CCI fines Google Rs 1337.76 crore for abusing its dominance in the Smartphone Android platform

Tags: Economy/Finance

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a Rs 1,337.76 crore fine on Google, owned by Alphabet company for abusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device market. 

The antitrust regulator also barred Google from conducting unfair business practices, including offering incentives to smartphone makers for exclusively carrying its search services.

Background to the case 

In May 2019 there was a complaint against Google that it used its dominant position as the supplier of the Android operating system to stifle competition and give it undue advantage.

Around 96% of the smartphones in India are run on Android OS as of September, while 4.09% run on Apple’s iOS.

Google sign an agreement with the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) of smartphones and tablets called Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA). Under this agreement the OEM has to pre-install entire Google Mobile Suite like its search engine, YouTube etc. and place it prominently on their device. 

This gave Google an unfair advantage to Google as compared to its competitor. 

The CCI found Google guilty of abusing its dominant position to illegally hurt competitors in India.

The Indian case is similar to one faced by Google in Europe, where regulators imposed a $5 billion fine on the company for forcing manufacturers to pre-install its apps on Android devices.

Google 

It was formed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998.  In 2015, Google was reorganized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alphabet Company.

It is an American multinational technology company that focuses on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics.

Chief Executive Officer:  Sundar Pichai

 Global Headquarters: California, United States of America 

Google India Headquarters: Hyderabad