Google CCI ruling: Play Store to house other app stores by next week – Times of India

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposed a Rs 1,337 crore fine on tech giant Google in 2022. India’s market competition watchdog cited the company’s control over the Android platform and even made some demands. Google requested the country’s apex court to revoke the penalty and block the demands made by CCI. The Supreme Court has recently passed its decision and has upheld CCI’s demands over the company. According to Supreme Court’s order, Google will not only have to pay the imposed fine but will also have to allow third-party app stores in the Play Store within the coming week. Reacting to Supreme Court’s order, Google claimed this move will “hurt consumers” and “stall growth” of the Android platform.
CCI demands enforced on Google
As per the CCI’s demands, Google will no longer be allowed to force phone makers to pre-install the company’s apps on Android devices to use the Play Store. The ruling also force’s the tech giant to enable access to the Play Store on Android “forks,” which is a heavily customised version of the platform.
Apart from this, CCI has also asked Google to host third-party app stores on its Play Store. The company also cannot make Android restrict sideloading apps “in any manner.” The Supreme Court has also mentioned that the company has seven days from the point of the ruling to comply with the orders.

How third-party developers have reacted to this ruling
According to a report by Reuters, some Indian developers have reacted to this ruling with content. MapmyIndia is a mapping service that had to compete with Google Maps since 2004. The company’s CEO has said that they were “elated” at the news. Another third-party Android app store platform Indus OS also deemed happy with the decision. CEO of Indus has called the move a “watershed moment” and has claimed that this move will promote the use of its apps. Google has not declared any official statement about how the company will implement these changes within the coming week.
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