Google asked to pay ₹1,337.76 crore in penalty for violating Android marketplace norm

India’s dogged push to rein in Big Tech giants for its growing monopoly and antitrust practices in the country’s internet space witnessed a watershed moment on Thursday as the Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped a penalty of ₹1,337.76 crore on Google for “abusing” its “dominant position” in the Android mobile ecosystem. Apart from imposing the historic penalty, the country’s top internet watchdog also issued a cease-and-desist order against the Alphabet subsidiary, which enjoys enormous clout over India’s vast base of netizens. The CCI also sternly ordered the US-based search engine giant to modify its conduct within a defined timeline. The massive blow for Google has come shortly after the CCI recently clubbed together multiple serious complaints lodged by various media groupings surrounding the Alphabet subsidiary’s violation of fair revenue-sharing practices.

Over the course of the year, the commission received antitrust complaints against Google from the Indian Newspaper Association (INA), the News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDA), and the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA).The CCI’s crackdown on Thursday has also come just a day after it slapped hefty fines to the tune of ₹223.48 crore and ₹168.88 crore on Goibibo-MakeMyTrip and OYO, respectively, for antitrust practices in the accommodation booking market.The DNPA welcomed the CCI’s decision with cautious optimism. A source at the organisation, which stands for the rights of the digital arms of India’s leading media entities, said, “The Commission’s verdict is a decisive step in the right direction for India’s democratic internet space. It goes on to vindicate our own concerns of the search engine platform’s highly opaque practices when it comes to sharing revenue with news organisations.”

In the build-up to Thursday’s blow for Alphabet’s unregulated influence in India, the CCI closely examined multiple practices of Google surrounding the licensing of the Android mobile operating system and various proprietary mobile apps. They include Play Store, Google Search, Google Chrome, and YouTube.During the course of the probe conducted by the CCI, Google tried to defend its position by arguing about the competitive constraints that it apparently faced from Apple. The commission looked at the extent of competition between Google’s Android ecosystem and Apple’s iOS ecosystem, and noted the differences between the two business models, which affect the underlying incentives of business decisions. Based on its assessment, the CCI found Google to be unduly dominant in multiple markets.In the statement in which the CCI announced the penalty on Google, the watchdog observed that the markets should be allowed to compete on merit and the conduct of dominant players such as Google shouldn’t cause harm to the other players in the internet space.The CCI’s position is aligned with the overall approach of Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and IT. The minister has lately been spearheading the Indian government’s continued push to clip the wings of excessively influential and abusive Big Tech players, level the playing field, and restore democracy to the country’s expanding internet ecosystem.While announcing that Google indeed violated rules and regulations in the Android ecosystem, the CCI listed six distinct concluding points that eventually culminated in the penalty of ₹1,337.76 crore. They include:

(1)   The mandatory pre-installation of the Google Mobile Suite under the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) with no option to uninstall the same and their prominent placement amounts to the imposition of unfair conditions on the device manufacturers.

(2)   Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the online search market resulting in denial of market access for competing search apps.

(3)   Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to protect its position in online general search.

(4)  Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to enter as well as protect its position in non-OS specific web browser market through the Google Chrome app.

(5)   Google has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android, OS to enter as well as protect its position in OVHPs market through YouTube.

(6)   Google, by making pre-installation of its proprietary apps, particularly Google Play Store, has reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices operating on alternative versions of Android, that is, Android forks, and thereby limited technical or scientific development to the prejudice of the consumers.

The Alphabet subsidiary has been given a time of 30 days to provide the requisite financial details and supporting documents in the context of the penalty that it has been slapped with. From unfair practices in sharing revenue with news organisations to exercising undue influence in India’s internet space, Big Tech giants have come under intense scrutiny in the country. The CCI’s latest crackdown comes in the backdrop of recent reversals for the American search engine behemoth Google, which is facing the heat worldwide for its opaque and monopolistic practices in India and abroad. The more Google resists or Challenges these orders, the  more it strengthens the resolve of State to seek their accountability, and this would impact not just android judgement, but also other  pending cases at CCIs.