NEW DELHI: After being accused of abusing its dominant position in the Indian market and being fined a penalty of Rs 937.44 crore, the US tech giant Google said by keeping costs low, its model has powered India’s digital transformation and expanded access for hundreds of millions of Indians.
Google has been penalised twice by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the span of two weeks. The CCI on October 25, 2022, imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies, apart from issuing a cease-and-desist order.
The Commission also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline. This is the second fine by India’s competition watchdog, earlier Google was fined Rs 1,337.76 crore by the CCI for anti-competitive practices related to Android.
However, Google said Indian developers have benefited from the technology, security, consumer protections, and unrivalled choice and flexibility that Android and Google Play provide. “And, by keeping costs low, our model has powered India’s digital transformation and expanded access for hundreds of millions of Indians. We remain committed to our users and developers and are reviewing the decision to evaluate the next steps,” said a spokesperson of Google.
The CCI noted that Google’s Play Store constitutes the main distribution channel for app developers in the Android mobile ecosystem, which allows its owners to capitalise on the apps brought to market.