Android users could get £50 in legal action against Google

Nearly 20 million UK Android users could each receive £50 compensation if a mass legal action against Google is successful.

The case, led by the former head of Citizens Advice consumer policy Liz Coll, claims that Google overcharged customers using its apps and services by £920m.

It argues that the 30 per cent cut Google takes from digital purchases on its app store amounts to an “unlawful and unearned tax, imposed on ordinary people without justification”. Developers are forced to pass this cost on to consumers, it alleges, making prices higher than they would otherwise be.

It also argues that because Google includes the Play Store with phones and tablets, customers have little alternative but to pay these charges – and therefore breaches UK and EU competition laws.

Coll said that customers are “herded” by Google to the Play Store, and that the company controls what’s available with a “vice-like grip”.

The result, she says, is that “competing app stores, which could give the same service at a fraction of the price, never get a look in”.

Apple is facing a similar £1.5 billion lawsuit for charges customers have paid through its App Store. Unlike Apple,

Google does let users download some apps from outside its Play Store, though this process is a lot harder.

Google said its fees were “comparable to our competitors” and pointed out that most Android phones come with more than one app store for customers to use.

The case is due to be heard at the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London. If successful, anyone who has used the Play Store since October 2015 could be due a refund.