Still on the hook for more than $160 million
Google has racked up antitrust lawsuits from around the world in the modern era as it has long outgrown its punkish startup origins to become entrenched in our society and protective of its incumbency. A recent legal battle with Indian antitrust regulators has proven particularly irritating for the search giant and, after a last-ditch appeal to the country’s Supreme Court, the company has been forced to take a loss — another in a chain of recent legal surrenders.
Troubles began in October when the Competition Commission of India fined Google more than $161 million for forcing device makers to pre-install a number of Google apps to license Google Play services — including the Play Store and deep-level software integrations. The company appealed the ruling at a tribunal, asking that it should waive a January 19 deadline for it to make changes to its licensing scheme. It was unsuccessful with its request for a stay, leaving it to make another attempt with the Supreme Court.
A three-judge panel has just handed Google a major setback by refusing to “interfere” with the Competition Commission of India (CCI) verdict, though it did push the compliance deadline to January 26. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has directed the lower court to rule on Google’s legal challenge by March 31, Reuters reports.
Arguing in the Supreme Court, lawyers for Google said the removal of any existing Play Store-related restrictions could potentially hinder the growth of the Android platform while also hurting businesses and end users. The company’s counsel further told the court that Google would be burdened to rush contract changes with more than 1,100 OEMs in the country. Court documents also reveal Google’s lawyers accusing the CCI of plagiarizing a previous European Commission ruling involving similar charges of unfair license terms, accusing the government of using evidence from overseas without ever applying it locally.
In the court’s ruling, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud condemned Android’s stranglehold in the Indian mobile industry.
“Look at the kind of authority which you wield in terms of dominance,” Chandrachud said.
A recent Counterpoint Research estimate quoted by Reuters suggests around 97% of all smartphones in India run on Android.
Meanwhile, a lawyer for the CCI, N. Venkataraman, rejected Google’s claims of the agency copy-pasting commission’s decision.
Google will now wait for the lower court’s decision on the way forward for Android in India. The company has previously said that the country has been the most aggressive in asking for “far-reaching changes,” illustrating its frustration with the local regulators.
So what would a revamped version of Android look like in India? For one, the company would be restricted from mandating device makers to pre-install Google apps while obtaining a Google Mobile Services license. Looking back at Europe, Google has been offering Android users a choice of search engines and web browsers upon setting up a new device. The European Commission ruling that mandated those break-ups is now under appeal.
