An India appeals court upheld a fine of about $160 million slapped on Alphabet Inc.’s Google by the country’s antitrust regulator, amid growing scrutiny over the company’s ambition to expand its mobile operating system’s global reach.
(Bloomberg) — An India appeals court upheld a fine of about $160 million slapped on Alphabet Inc.’s Google by the country’s antitrust regulator, amid growing scrutiny over the company’s ambition to expand its mobile operating system’s global reach.
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on Wednesday gave some respite to Google though, as it set aside certain conditions the Competition Commission of India had imposed on the company. Google had appealed to the tribunal after it received the fine late last year.
The CCI in October fined Google for what it said was abuse of its dominant position in the Android device ecosystem. Days later, the commission imposed another fine on the US tech company for restricting app developers from using third-party billing and payment-processing services. In both cases, the regulator ordered Google to take corrective measures, which the company began to do this year.
Google now has 30 days to pay the fine. It also has the option to appeal the tribunal’s verdict before the Supreme Court of India.
Google didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, but has previously said the measures suggested by the CCI will cripple efforts to get more people online, hinder user privacy and make Android, which accounts for more than 90% of India’s smartphone market, less affordable. The changes will also hit Google’s growth in one of the world’s biggest web services markets where it competes for ad revenue with rivals including Meta Platforms Inc.
The antitrust watchdog, meanwhile, has argued Google wields too much power over the mobile market and has asserted that the company has adopted a different approach in other jurisdictions.
Separately, Google is also facing a second antitrust fine of over 9 billion rupees ($110 million) for allegedly abusing its dominant position in its payment platform. An appeal in this case is scheduled to be heard by the appeals forum in April.
Google’s run-ins with Indian authorities adds to the string of antitrust litigations the company is facing across various jurisdictions. A European court in September upheld a 4.1 billion-euro ($4.4 billion) antitrust fine in a case over Android. This setback for Google followed the company’s lost fight to topple a French penalty of 150 million euros ($163 million) in a case relating to online advertising. Meanwhile, Russia’s antitrust agency last year found that Google’s YouTube violated anti-monopoly legislation.
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