KPPU’s Fine on Google LLC was the Largest Fine in the Commission’s History

A fine of Rp 202.5 billion has been imposed by the Indonesia Competition Commission (KPPU) to Google LLC in Case Number 03/KPPU-I/2024 concerning Alleged Violations of Article 17, Article 19 letters a and b, and Article 25 letters a and b of Law Number 5 Year 1999 related to the Implementation of the Google Play Billing System. This fine is the largest fine valued in history, which has been imposed by KPPU in a case since its establishment twenty-five years ago. This fine even surpasses the total fine of Rp 170 billion imposed by KPPU in the Decision of the imported cattle cartel case in Jabodetabek back in 1 April 2016. In the 604-page Decision that has been published on their official Decision page (putusan.kppu.go.id), the violation committed by Google LLC is fully explained.

In the Decision read out on 21 January 2025, it was explained that the provisions in Government Regulation No. 44 of 2021, the imposition of administrative sanctions in the form of fines by the Commission is carried out based on the provisions of a maximum of 50% (fifty percent) of the net profit obtained by business actors in the relevant market, during the period of violation; or a maximum of 10% (ten percent) of total sales in the relevant market, during the period of violation. Furthermore, the amount of the fine is determined based on the basic fine plus a calculation based on the negative impact caused by the violation, time duration of the violation, mitigating factors, aggravating factors; and/or the ability of the business actor to pay the fines.

In the Decision, the Commission Panel determined the calculation of the amount of the fine based on total sales, which was a maximum of 10% (ten percent) of total sales in the relevant market at the time period of violation. The temporal dimension of the case determined by the Commission Panel was, from the time Google LLC imposed coercion on application developers by requiring the implementation of the Google Play Billing System on applications that have in-app purchase transactions, namely from 1 June 2022 to 31 December 2024. For the total sales value, the Commission Panel used the total sales value of Google LLC derived from the audited financial statements for the period 2022-2023 submitted by Google LLC to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The total sales data is reported on a worldwide basis and for all products produced by Google LLC. The accumulated total sales were used to calculate the average total sales of Google LLC sourced from the Google Play Store in Indonesia during the period June 2022 - December 2024. (DN)