Indian tribunal gave partial relief to Alphabet Inc’s Google by setting aside four of 10 antitrust directives in a case related to the dominant market position of its Android operating system.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said that Google had exploit its dominant position in Android and told it to remove restrictions impose on device makers, including related to the pre-installation of apps.
It also fine Google $161 million (approx. Rs. 1,325 crore).
An Indian appeals tribunal said CCI’s findings of Google’s anti-competitive conduct were correct and the company was also liable to pay the fine, but it quash four of the 10 antitrust remedies that had impose on Google to change its business model.
As, Google will now not need to allow hosting of third-party app stores inside Play Store, as had previously order by the CCI.
This move will come as some relief for Google after India’s Supreme Court in January refuse to suspend any of the antitrust remedies order in 2022.
The top court had ask the tribunal to hear the case on merit and rule by March end.
After the Supreme Court order Google made sweeping changes to Android in India, including allowing device makers to license individual apps for pre-installation and giving users the option to choose their default search engine changes the Indian tribunal did not interfere with on Wednesday.
Google will not need to allow users to remove pre-install apps such as Google Maps, Gmail and YouTube.
Alphabet Inc can also continue imposing curbs on so-called “sideloading“, a practice of downloading apps without using an app store, which CCI had said must be discontinue.
It was not immediately clear if Google will again challenge the decision to revoke the other CCI remedies.
The Alphabet Inc did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Google has been concern about India’s Android decision as the directives were seen as more sweeping than those impose in the European Commission’s landmark 2018 ruling against the operating system.
It has said “no other jurisdiction has ever asked for such far-reaching changes“, and repeatedly argue that the growth of its Android ecosystem will stall in India due to the decision.
Approximately 97% of 600 million smartphones in India run on Android, and in Europe, the system accounts for 75% of the 550 million smartphones, as per Counterpoint Research estimates.
