In a statement, Google said it is looking forward to working with the CCI to “show how Android has led to greater competition and innovation, not fewer.”
Google’s violation of antitrust rules is not unprecedented. It has happened in the United States. It happened in India as well. And it’s happening again, with Google accused of abusing its dominating position in the Android smart-television industry by erecting barriers for companies that sought to utilize or alter Google’s Android operating systems for their smart televisions.
The case, brought by two lawyers, Kshitiz Arya and Purushottam Anand, is currently with the Competition Commission of India, India’s antitrust watchdog (CCI). The antitrust authority has ordered Google to respond to the claims, and the company has reportedly requested extra time to do so.
Google abused the dominant position of its Android
Google exploited its dominating position in India with its Android operating system, using its “vast financial strength” to illegally harm competitors, according to a report on the country’s two-year investigation seen by Reuters.
According to a June report by the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) investigations unit, Alphabet’s Google decreased “the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to create and sell devices operating on alternative versions of Android.”
In a statement to Reuters, the US tech giant said it is looking forward to working with the CCI to “show how Android has led to greater competition and innovation, not fewer.”
Google Fined KRW 207 Billion by South Korean
A person with firsthand knowledge of the situation told Reuters that Google had not received the probe report.
A request for comment on the report was not responded to by the CCI. According to another person familiar with the case, senior CCI members will evaluate the findings and give Google another chance to defend itself before issuing a final judgment, which might include penalties.
Google would have the right to challenge any order in Indian courts.
Google was fined KRW 207 billion (about Rs. 1,300 crores) by South Korea’s antitrust commission for abusing its strong market position to limit competition in the mobile operating system industry.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has launched an investigation against Google for allegedly restricting local smartphone producers from customizing its Android operating system.
The fine marks Google’s latest antitrust defeat in South Korea. Earlier this month, parliament approved legislation prohibiting large app store operators, such as Google, from requiring software developers to utilize their payment systems, thus prohibiting developers from charging commission on in-app transactions.
VAGUE AND BIASED
According to the study, Google provided at least 24 answers during the investigation, defending itself and claiming it was not harming competition.
According to the article, Microsoft, Amazon.com, Apple, and smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung and Xiaomi were among the 62 firms who answered to CCI questions during its Google inquiry.
According to Counterpoint Research, Android powers 98 percent of India’s 520 million cell phones.
When the CCI launched the investigation in 2019, it stated that Google appears to have used its dominance to limit device manufacturers’ freedom to choose alternate versions of its mobile operating system and force them to pre-install Google apps.
According to the 750-page report, the forced pre-installation of apps “amounts to imposition of unfair conditions on the device manufacturers” in breach of India’s competition legislation, while the corporation used its Play Store app store to safeguard its supremacy.
The Play Store policies were “one-sided, imprecise, confusing, biased, and arbitrary,” according to the research, while Android has “enjoyed its dominant position” in licensable operating systems for smartphones and tablets since 2011.
According to Reuters, the investigation was launched in 2019 after two Indian junior antitrust study associates and a law student made a lawsuit.
Google continues to see India as a critical growth market. It announced last year that it would invest $10 billion in the country over the next five to seven years with equity investments and joint ventures, its largest promise to a key growth market.
