CCI probes if Google abused Android to block competitors
NEW DELHI: India’s antitrust commission is looking into accusations that Alphabet Inc.’s unit Google abuses its popular Android mobile operating system to block its rivals, four people with direct knowledge of the matter told
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has for the past six months been reviewing a case similar to one Google faced in Europe that led to a fine of 4.34 billion euro by antitrust regulators last year, three of the people said. Google has challenged that order. The European Commission found Google had abused its market dominance since 2011 with practices such as forcing manufacturers to pre-install Google search and its Chrome browser, together with its Google Play app store on Android devices.
“It is on the lines of the EU case, but at a preliminary stage,” said one of the people, who is aware of the CCI investigation.
Google declined to comment. The CCI did not respond to
queries.
The watchdog’s enquiry into allegations against Google over its Android platform has not previously been reported.
Google executives have in recent months met Indian antitrust officials at least once to discuss the complaint, which was filed by a group of individuals, one of the people said.
CCI could ask its investiga-
Reuters.
GOOGLE EXECUTIVES HAVE IN RECENT MONTHS MET INDIAN ANTITRUST OFFICIALS AT LEAST ONCE TO DISCUSS THE COMPLAINT
Reuters’
tions unit to further investigate the accusations against Google, or throw out the complaint if it lacks merit.
The watchdog’s investigations have historically taken years to complete.
Android features on about 85% of the world’s smartphones. In India, about 98% of the smartphones sold in 2018 used the platform, Counterpoint Research estimates.
In October, Google said it would charge smartphone makers a fee for using its popular Google Play app store and also allow them to use rival versions of Android to comply with the EU order. The change, however, covered only the European Economic Area, which comprises the 28 EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.
“The CCI will have a tough time not initiating a formal investigation into Google given the EU case, unless they can show the problem has been addressed (by remedies),” one of the people said.
The Indian complaint presents the latest regulatory headache for the Mountain View, California-based company in a key growth market.
Last year, the Indian antitrust watchdog imposed a fine of $19 million on Google for “search bias” and abuse of its dominant position.
It also found Google had put its commercial flight search function in a prominent position on the search results page.