Landmark Case against Google

Umar Javeed, Sukarma Thapar, Aaqib Javeed vs. Google LLC and Ors.

Case Law:

It is a 2019 court case in which Google and Google India Private Limited were accused of abuse of dominance in the Android operating system in India. The Competition Commission of India found that Google abused its dominant position by requiring device manufacturers wishing to pre-install apps to adhere to a compatibility standard on Android.

Google is the subject of complaints of abuse of dominance, according to the Competition Commission. In this regard, the Competition Commission of India is of the prima facie judgment that Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the Act is violated by the forced pre-installation of the whole Google Mobile Services suite under MADAs because it imposes an unfair requirement on the device manufacturers. Additionally, it appears to violate Section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act of 2002 by using Google's dominance in the Play Store to defend the relevant market, such as Google Search (Online Search Engine). Users' primary means of accessing information now is through mobile search, and Android is a major mobile search delivery platform. The effects of search engines are driven by data. A significant amount of data is needed to improve search engine optimization and the Search algorithm, which in turn demands a sufficient number of queries from Users who increasingly rely on mobile search.

?In violation of Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act, 2002, the conduct at issue on the part of Google may contribute to the continuation of its hegemonic position in the online search market through Google Search while also preventing rival search apps from accessing the market. According to whom?, the Commission called for a thorough study of the case's opposing parties. During the examination, Google's argument that MADA's pre-installation requirements are neither exclusive nor exclusionary can also be adequately investigated. In the opinion of many, Google controls the mobile operating system.

Recent penalties on Google by CCI:

In October 2022, the Competition Commission of India fined Google Rs. 1337.76 crores for engaging in anti-competitive practices in Indian markets. Google has been given 30 days to submit the necessary financial information and accompanying paperwork. This was followed up by another fine of $113 million and an order for Google to start using third-party payment processors for in-app purchases and purchases in the Play Market.

The Competition Commission of India imposed a fine of $162 million on Google. The Competition Commission of India received a complaint against Google for monopoly practices in the Android smartphones market. Google was mainly using two agreements named MADA (Mobile application distribution agreement) and AFA (Anti Fragmentation agreement) to mandate the pre-installation of the GMS (Google mobile suite) which is the collection of pre-installed apps and services and gives no option for their uninstallation. This has led to a violation of section 4 of the Competition act. NCLAT (National Company Law Appellate Tribunal) has recently denied staying the order of the fine and started the recovery of the penalty, but the Supreme Court of India has agreed to listen to the case of Google.

A fine of $117 million was also imposed by CCI on Google for its play store policies as it was forcing app developers to use GPBS (Google play billing system) for paid apps and in-app purchases. It was not doing the same for YouTube where it was allowing third-party payment systems, this made Google's practice discriminatory. India is taking a tough stand and recently in late December, a Parliamentary panel recommended that the government should pass a digital Competition Act. The government of India is also planning to pass the new telecom law and tighten up the grip on IT companies and increase surveillance.

#lawsikho #google #competitionlaw #caselaw #technologylaw #cci #cyberlaw #antitrustlaw Lawsikho I. LawSikho Freelance Department Ekta Sinha