Google alleges India antitrust body plagiarised parts of EU order on android abuse

Google argued that the Indian antitrust tribunal should overturn a judgement against the UScompany for exploiting the dominance of its Android operating system in the country's market.

In October, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Alphabet Inc.'s Google US$161 million for abusing its monopolistic position in markets like online search and the Android app store and demanded that it modify the limitations placed on smartphone manufacturers with regard to pre-installing apps.

Google was concerned about the Indian decision, according to sources who spoke to Reuters in October, because the remedies mandated were thought to be more extensive than those outlined in the historic 2018 decision by the European Commission that found that the restrictions placed on manufacturers of Android mobile devices were unlawful. In that instance, a record 4.1 billion euro ($4.3 billion) fine has been contested by Google.

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In its filing to an Indian appeals tribunal, Google argued thatthe CCI’s investigation unit “copy-pasted extensively from a European Commission decision, deploying evidence from Europe that was not examined in India”.

“There are more than 50 instances of copypasting”, in some cases “word-for-word”, and the watchdog erroneously dismissed the issue, Google said in its filing which is not public but has been reviewed by Reuters.

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“The Commission failed to conduct an impartial, balanced, and legally sound investigation … Google’s mobile app distribution practices are pro-competitive and not unfair/ exclusionary.”

The Indian competition verdict comes as Google is being subjected to more intense antitrust investigation globally. Google licences its Android operating system to manufacturers of smartphones, but others claim the limitations are anti-competitive.

(With inputs from agencies)

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