Google has taken its legal battle against the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to the country's Supreme Court, urging the court to quash antitrust directives related to its alleged abuse of the Android market.
The CCI had accused Google of exploiting its dominant position in the Android mobile operating system and had imposed fines and directives on the company. In response, Google argued in a recent filing that it has not abused its market position and should not be held liable for penalties.
Last year, the CCI directed Google to refrain from making it mandatory for device manufacturers to pre-install its Google Mobile Suite (GMS), which includes apps like Search, Maps, Chrome, YouTube, and the Google Play store. The CCI also imposed a fine of Rs 1,337 crore on Google for its alleged abuse of dominance. Google appealed to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which partially granted relief by setting aside four out of the ten directives. Google paid the fine in May.
Now, Google is seeking to quash the remaining directives through its appeal to the Supreme Court. The upheld directives include restrictions on OEMs for pre-installing an entire suite of apps, positioning Google apps in a certain way, licensing the Play Store to OEMs linked to pre-installation of specific apps, paying OEMs to maintain exclusivity of its search services, prohibiting OEMs from selling smart devices based on Android forks, and allowing users to choose their default search engine.
Google emphasized that it aims to demonstrate how Android has benefited users and developers, given that the Android mobile operating system powers 97% of the 600 million smartphones in India. It should be noted that Google has already made changes to its Android OS rules in India following the CCI's directives.
Meanwhile, the CCI has also approached the Supreme Court to seek a reversal of the NCLAT's decision. The outcome of the legal battle will have significant implications for Google in one of its most important markets.
Picture Source : https://blog.inkforall.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/google-update-FI-970x646.webp
