The Indian government intends to take action against Alphabet Inc.’s Google, according to Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who was speaking to the media; last year, an antitrust watchdog discovered that Google had abused its market position by engaging in anti-competitive practices.
In October 2022, India’s antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), fined Google $275 million in two cases, which involved abusing its dominant position in the Android operating system market and pushing developers to use its in-app payment system.
According to Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Union IT Minister, such findings are “serious” and give the Indian federal government “deep concern. The government would take their own action against Google, even “the ministry has to take action”.
He said that the matter is serious and will take necessary action, “We have thought through it. You will see it in the coming weeks. Certainly it’s not something that we will leave and push under the carpet”.
But, what kind of legislative or regulatory measures the government could adopt needed to be made clear by the minister. The minister expressed his concerns and said the issue “is worrisome, not just for us, it’s worrisome for the entire digital ecosystem in India”.
When the minister was asked about discussing the issue with Google, he responded, “There is no need for any discussion. There is a finding of a court”.
Even though the case involving the payments is still on appeal, the Indian tribunal ruled in March that the CCI’s findings regarding Google’s anti-competitive practices in the Android market were correct in response to a legal challenge.
Last year in March, CCI ordered an investigation by its Director General into complaints against Google that the tech giant has allegedly abused its dominant position among news publishers.
After examining the contentions of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), the representative organisation of newspapers in the country, the CCI found that prima facie, these allegations of abuse of dominant position are under the purview of the Competition Act, 2002 and that it requires a detailed investigation by the Director-General.
Last October, Google was slapped with fines by the CCI on two occasions of Rs 1,337 crore and Rs 936.44 crore each. CCI opened a new investigation into the company after Match Group, the company that owns Tinder, and other startups claimed that Google’s new service charge system for in-app purchases violates the competition commission’s October judgement.
Other companies, including Apple and Amazon, are also being investigated in India for alleged anti-competitive practices. Chandrasekhar stated that the government was eager to take action to ensure that India’s digital economy is safeguarded.
He talked about the free market, “We don’t want it to be growth in a way that distorts consumer choice or free competition”.
The minister promised that the government will find ways to prevent abuse of big corporations, “We will certainly be looking into what the government needs to do to prevent anybody, including but not limited to Google, from abusing their market power or market dominance.”
