Google Says CCI's Imposed Fine Was 'Unfair'

In its submission to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), tech-giant Google said that Rs 1,337.76 crore penalty imposed on firm by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) was an ‘unfair imposition’ and has further denied the charges of restricting smartphone companies from installing other apps, including those of rivals.

The tech firm challenged the CCI penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore alleging the dominance of the Android devices ecosystem across multiple verticals. 

The NCLAT bench, headed by chairperson Justice Ashok Bhusan on Friday asked to hear the matter for a day-to-day hearing from 23 February. 

Google told the bench that the placement of its apps on devices through pre-installation under the Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA) authorised with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) is not ‘unfair’, adding that there were no restrictions on OEMs to restrict them from installing other apps.

The Google Mobile Suite (GMS) apps including Gmail, Google Search and YouTube have been mandated by MADA while installing the Android Operating System. 

Senior advocate Arun Kathpalia representing Google before the bench said that pre-installing apps do not show the firm's dominance.

He added that Google does not charge any royalty and does not operate on a closed system like Apple Inc.

Kathpalia further said that there is huge competition within the Android ecosystem.

In October, CCI imposed a fine of Rs 1.337.76 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices and purportedly abusing dominance within the Android ecosystem.