The Competition Commission of India has ordered an investigation into the actions of Google, a U.S. tech giant, accusing the company of exploiting its dominant position in the Indian online market. It is alleged that Google has used unfair terms and discriminatory practices in its popular app store, leading to concerns and complaints from multiple Indian app developers and industry groups.
According to the commission’s order on Friday, Google may have violated several provisions of India’s antitrust law. As a result, their investigative arm has been asked to complete the probe within 60 days. This investigation comes in response to the persistent complaints and concerns raised by Indian app developers who feel that Google’s practices are unjust.
Google pulled more than 100 apps from a set of 10 developers in India last month, after these firms failed to comply with Google’s billing policies. The apps were later restored, but they must now adhere to the Play Store’s billing policies.
The CCI’s allegations revolve around Google’s billing system for in-app purchases and paid apps on the Play Store. The regulator has stated that Google is charging app developers an excessive and unreasonable service fee that ranges from 10% to 30%. This fee is deemed disproportionate to the economic value of the services being provided by the company.
“The price being charged by Google appears to be unfair in itself,” said the regulator in its 21-page order. “Given the app developers’ complete reliance on the Google Play Store, the price being charged by Google seems to be unjust.”
In addition to this, the commission has accused Google of implementing its policies in a discriminatory manner. The company has made arbitrary distinctions between apps that offer digital goods and services, and those that offer physical goods and services, even though they avail similar facilities on the Play Store.
Google’s operations in India have been riddled with allegations of anti-competitive practices for a while now. While the country remains its biggest market in terms of users, this issue has been a cause of concern for the company for some time. Google has invested over $10 billion in India and has promised to invest even more in the coming years. It is also a major investor in two of the country’s top telecom operators – Jio Platforms and Bharti Airtel.
In 2022, the CCI imposed a historical fine of $162 million on Google for unfairly dominating the Android smartphone market and ordered the company to change its business model. A few days later, Google was fined $113 million for abusing its dominant position in the Google Play Store. The company was also directed to allow app developers to utilize third-party payment processing services for in-app purchases and app purchases.
Google has previously defended its Play Store policies, stating that the service fee supports its investments in Android and the Play Store. The company claims that this fee enables them to provide developers with necessary tools and a global platform, allowing them to access billions of consumers around the world.
