Google is planning a legal challenge to block a ruling by India’s antitrust watchdog to change its approach to its Android operating system, concerned that it will restrict how it promotes the platform, sources with direct knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
The Alphabet Inc. unit has been fined $275 million in two Indian antitrust decisions since last week — one for its policies of charging in-app commissions and another for abusing its position in the market for Android operating system.
The rulings come as Google faces increased antitrust scrutiny across the world. Last month, it suffered a major setback when a European court upheld a 2018 ruling saying it was largely confirming a decision that the company imposed “unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices.” Google plans to appeal the decision, where it faces a record $4.1 billion fine.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI)’s Android ruling, despite involving a smaller $162 million fine, has worried Google since it seeks wider ranging remedial measures, three sources aware of the company’s thinking said, according to the Reuters report.
One of the sources said that Google was concerned that the CCI’s decision could increase regulatory pressures in other jurisdictions and a legal appeal to block implementation of the antitrust directive was being planned within weeks.
Google declined to comment on its legal plans, reiterating its statement from last week that the CCI order was “a major setback for Indian consumers and businesses, opening serious security risks … and raising the cost of mobile devices for Indians”.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, lead counsel for Google in its arguments before the CCI, tweeted on Wednesday that “inherent & patent infirmities” in the order make a challenge inevitable and likely to succeed.
Google has faced criticism globally that it licenses its Android operating system to smartphone players but signs restrictive agreements that are anti-competitive. The US firm maintains that Android has created more choice for everyone and such agreements help keep the operating system free.
Faisal Kawoosa, founder of Indian research firm Techarc, said, “The CCI directions strike at the heart of Google’s revenue model for Android, which relies on a volume game where larger the user base is, multiple the avenues to monetize.”
In Europe, 75 percent of 550 million smartphones run on Android, compared with 97 percent of 600 million devices in India, Counterpoint Research estimates.
Google is also concerned that the CCI has ordered it not to impose any restrictions in India on so-called “sideloading”, a practice of downloading apps without using an app store, and to allow other app stores to be available within its Play Store, two of the sources said.
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