SAWT BEIRUT INTERNATIONAL

| 25 April 2024, Thursday |

Google alleges India antitrust body copied parts of EU order on Android abuse

According to court documents, Google argued that the Indian antitrust tribunal should overturn a judgement against the American company for exploiting the dominance of its Android operating system in the country’s market.

In October, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google GOOGL.O, owned by Alphabet Inc., $161 million for abusing its dominant position in markets like online search and the Android app store. The CCI also asked Google to modify the limitations placed on smartphone manufacturers with regard to pre-installing apps.

Sources told Reuters in October that Google was worried about the Indian decision as the remedies ordered were seen as more sweeping than the European Commission’s landmark 2018 ruling for imposing unlawful restrictions on Android mobile device makers. Google has challenged a record 4.1-billion-euro ($4.3 billion) fine in that case.

In its filing to an Indian appeals tribunal, Google argues the CCI’s investigation unit “copy-pasted extensively from a European Commission decision, deploying evidence from Europe that was not examined in India”.

“There are more than 50 instances of copypasting”, in some cases “word-for-word”, and the watchdog erroneously dismissed the issue, Google said in its filing which is not public but has been reviewed by Reuters.

“The Commission failed to conduct an impartial, balanced, and legally sound investigation … Google’s mobile app distribution practices are pro-competitive and not unfair/ exclusionary.”

Spokespeople for the CCI and European Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

    Source:
  • Reuters