Google has reportedly accused the Competition Commission of India (CCI) of ordering changes to its business model “only to protect” rival Amazon. According to a report by news agency Reuters, Amazon had complained about its struggles to develop a modified Android system version due to Google’s restrictions. The report quotes legal papers.
Last month, Google approached the Supreme Court to quash CCI’s October order asking the company to make 10 changes to its business model. The regulatory body accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the market with its Android operating system, which powers 97% of India’s smartphones.
‘All to protect Amazon’
Amazon reportedly told the CCI during the investigation that Google’s restrictions hindered the development of its Android fork called Fire OS. Google in its SC filing has claimed that the watchdog unfairly relied on that in passing its adverse decision against it. “Globally, FireOS failed commercially due to poor user experience. In India, the Fire Phone was not even launched,” Google argued in its 1,004-page filing, which has not been made public but was reviewed by Reuters.
“Thus, the Commission called Amazon’s lack of attempt to compete in India a failure and attributed it to Google’s agreements.” It further added, “The CCI’s directive was issued “only to protect Amazon – who complained that its attempts at creating a forked version of the Android did not work because of (Google’s) restrictions.”
The court papers show that Amazon told Indian investigators the creation of Fire OS, as a forked Android, took “substantial resources”, including thousands of employee hours.
Google is arguing in India’s Supreme Court against any penalty and saying that it did not abuse its market position. The CCI wants Google to comply with all its directives, the watchdog said in a separate filing seen by Reuters. Google’s latest SC filing shows its deepening disagreement with how the CCI conducted its Android investigation.
What CCI ruling asked Google to do
In October 2022, CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies, apart from issuing a cease-and-desist order. The commission also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline. This was followed by another Rs 1363 crore penalty.
The company was asked to allow modified versions of its Android operating system, called Android forks, to be distributed without any licensing restrictions such as those related to the pre-installation of Google apps.
Google has made some big changes to its Android business model in India following the CCI’s directive. A lower tribunal earlier ruled that Google should pay the penalty and confirmed it abused its market position, in line with CCI’s findings, but the US company continues to fight it out in the Supreme Court.
In an earlier December filing in a lower tribunal, Google reportedly said that CCI officers had “copypasted” parts of a European ruling against the US firm in a similar case. CCI denied the accusation.
Last month, Google approached the Supreme Court to quash CCI’s October order asking the company to make 10 changes to its business model. The regulatory body accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the market with its Android operating system, which powers 97% of India’s smartphones.
‘All to protect Amazon’
Amazon reportedly told the CCI during the investigation that Google’s restrictions hindered the development of its Android fork called Fire OS. Google in its SC filing has claimed that the watchdog unfairly relied on that in passing its adverse decision against it. “Globally, FireOS failed commercially due to poor user experience. In India, the Fire Phone was not even launched,” Google argued in its 1,004-page filing, which has not been made public but was reviewed by Reuters.
“Thus, the Commission called Amazon’s lack of attempt to compete in India a failure and attributed it to Google’s agreements.” It further added, “The CCI’s directive was issued “only to protect Amazon – who complained that its attempts at creating a forked version of the Android did not work because of (Google’s) restrictions.”
The court papers show that Amazon told Indian investigators the creation of Fire OS, as a forked Android, took “substantial resources”, including thousands of employee hours.
Google is arguing in India’s Supreme Court against any penalty and saying that it did not abuse its market position. The CCI wants Google to comply with all its directives, the watchdog said in a separate filing seen by Reuters. Google’s latest SC filing shows its deepening disagreement with how the CCI conducted its Android investigation.
What CCI ruling asked Google to do
In October 2022, CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies, apart from issuing a cease-and-desist order. The commission also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline. This was followed by another Rs 1363 crore penalty.
The company was asked to allow modified versions of its Android operating system, called Android forks, to be distributed without any licensing restrictions such as those related to the pre-installation of Google apps.
Google has made some big changes to its Android business model in India following the CCI’s directive. A lower tribunal earlier ruled that Google should pay the penalty and confirmed it abused its market position, in line with CCI’s findings, but the US company continues to fight it out in the Supreme Court.
In an earlier December filing in a lower tribunal, Google reportedly said that CCI officers had “copypasted” parts of a European ruling against the US firm in a similar case. CCI denied the accusation.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
Denial of responsibility! NewsUpdate is an automatic aggregator around the global media. All the content are available free on Internet. We have just arranged it in one platform for educational purpose only. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, all materials to their authors. If you are the owner of the content and do not want us to publish your materials on our website, please contact us by email – [email protected]. The content will be deleted within 24 hours.
