CCI orders strike blow at digital adoption in India: Google

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Google on Friday hit out at the competition regulator for slapping penalties for alleged abuse of its dominant position, saying the orders strike a blow at the effort to accelerate digital adoption in India and will lead to higher prices.

Failing to secure an interim relief on more than ₹2,200 crore fine imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the US tech giant penned a blog 'The Heart of the Matter' to put across its point on how the orders would harm the digital ecosystem in the country.

India, it said, is at a juncture where barriers to access must be brought down, and safe and secure smartphones made available to all.

"At a time when only half of India's population is connected, the directions in the CCI's order strikes a blow at the ecosystem-wide efforts to accelerate digital adoption in the country," it said, adding the firm is appealing against the orders.

CCI, in October last year, slapped a ₹1,337.76 crore fine on Google for exploiting its dominant position with respect to Android, which powers 97 per cent of smartphones in India. It imposed another ₹936 crore penalty on the US tech giant in a case related to its Play Store policies.

While in the first case, CCI asked Google to allow smartphone users on the Android platform to uninstall apps and let them select a search engine of their choice, the regulator had asked the company to take corrective steps on policies that forced developers to use Google Play's billing system to list their apps on its Play Store.

Currently, one cannot delete apps such as Google Maps or YouTube from their Android phones when they come pre-installed.

Google has not been able to secure relief from the appellate tribunal NCLAT, which asked the company to deposit