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Google India has released an announcement regarding this. It said Indian developers have benefited from the technology, security, user protection and convenience offered by Android and Google Play. The company says they are too Reviewing the decision to evaluate next steps.
Case No. 07 of 2020, 14 of 2021 and 35 of 2021
The CCI has imposed a monetary penalty of ₹ 936.44 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices related to its Play Store policies.
Read the full order here: https://t.co/GDR820ffYg
Press release: https://t.co/7HEPJeHVK3#Disbelief pic.twitter.com/TbTa6vbCXl— CCI (@CCI_India) October 25, 2022
Google India has been fined for the second time
According to the CCI, Google India was found guilty of abusing its dominant position to promote its payments app and in-app payment system. The commission said Google’s Play Store was the distribution channel of the Android mobile ecosystem, allowing its owner to profit from the apps released to the market.
The Google Play Store policy states that app developers must use Google Play’s Billing System (GPBS) to accept payments for apps distributed or sold through the Google Play Store and for certain in-app purchases. App developers are not permitted to include a payment section within the app that encourages users to purchase a digital item outside of the app or includes a direct link to a website that accepts an alternative payment method. These are called anti-steering provisions.
The latest research from the Indian watchdog, CCI found that Google dominates the Smart App Store in Android OS and the licensed OS for smartphones, forcing app developers to use GPBS. It was considered unfair and arbitrary. If an app developer does not follow Google’s GPBS policy, they will lose a huge number of customers and will not be allowed to promote their apps on the Play Store.
CCI said it does not see any real economic reason to require GPBS to access the Play Store for in-app purchases or premium apps. The CCI said the option to select a preferred payment mode from the open market has been removed from app creators.
Google’s response
In response to the CCI, Google responded, “Indian developers have benefited from the technology, security, consumer protections and unparalleled choice and convenience offered by Android and Google Play. And, by keeping costs low, our model has powered India’s digital transformation and expanded access to hundreds of millions of Indians. We are committed to our users and developers and are reviewing the decision to evaluate next steps.