INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
India&s competition regulator on Thursday ordered Alphabet Inc&s (GOOGL.O) Google to change its approach to its Android platform and fined
the United States tech company 13.38 billion Indian rupees ($161.95 million) for anticompetitive practices, Reuters reported.The
Competition Commission of India (CCI) said Google leveraged its dominant position in markets such as online search and app store for
Android, to protect the position of its apps like Chrome and YouTube in mobile Web browsers and online video hosting.CCI also restricted
Google from certain revenue sharing agreements with smartphone makers, noting that such practices helped Google to secure exclusivity for
its search services ''to the total exclusion of competitors.Google declined to comment on the order.Markets should be allowed to compete on
merits and the onus is on the dominant players (in the present case, Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merits,&
CCI said in a statement.The United States company is facing a series of antitrust cases and the tightening of existing tech-sector
regulations in India, read the report.According to Reuters the competition watchdog is separately looking in to Google&s business conduct in
the smart TV market and its in-app payments system.The Android-related probe, started in 2019, was sparked by a complaint from two junior
Indian antitrust research associates and a law school student
The Indian case is similar to one faced by Google in Europe, where regulators imposed a $5 billion fine on the company for forcing
manufacturers to pre-install its apps on Android devices.Google was ordered by India on Thursday not to restrict smartphone users from
uninstalling its pre-installed apps like Google Maps and Gmail, read the report.CCI also asked Google to allow users to pick their search
engine of choice for all relevant services while setting up a phone for the first time.Google&s Android operating system powers 97% of
India&s 600 million smartphones, according to Counterpoint Research.The post Google fined $162 mln by India antitrust watchdog for abuse of
Android platform first appeared on Ariana News.
