India To Take Action Against Google After Antitrust Breaches
An antitrust monitor said last year that Alphabet Inc.'s Google had abused its market position by engaging in anti-competitive practises; as a result, the Indian government wants to take action, a top IT minister told Reuters.
In two cases involving Google's abuse of its dominant position in the Android operating system market and its pressure on developers to utilise its in-app payment system, India's antitrust agency penalised the company USD 275 million in October.
According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the federal deputy minister for information technology, such discoveries are "serious" and create "deep concern" for the Indian federal government, which would take its own measures against Google. This was stated to Reuters in an interview at the IT ministry in New Delhi.
The ministry must act, according to Chandrasekhar. "We have given it some thought. In the upcoming weeks, you'll witness it." We won't ignore it or try to sweep it under the rug, for sure.
The minister opted not to elaborate on the potential policy or regulatory measures the government could implement.
One of the most senior members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration, Chandrasekhar, stated that the problem "is worrying, not just for us, it's worrying for the entire digital ecosystem in India."
