Technology giant Google has filed an appeal in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against a February order by the competition watchdog, which found it guilty of “search bias.” The Competition Commission of India had imposed a ₹136-crore fine on Google. In a 190-page order, the CCI had said Google abused its dominant position on three counts that largely relate to search, while no foul play was seen in case of advertising.
The penalty amounted to 5% of the average revenue generated from India over the three years ended FY15. Google had 60 days to deposit the amount or appeal the order.
In an emailed statement, a spokeswoman for Google said, “We disagree with aspects of the CCI’s decision, so we have filed an appeal and sought a stay on those findings.”
The order came after Matrimony.com and Consumer Unity & Trust Society filed complaints against Google LLC, Google India Pvt Ltd and Google Ireland Ltd in 2012. “Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it causes harm to its competitors as well as to users,” the CCI said. “Google was leveraging its dominance in the market for online general web search, to strengthen its position in the market for online syndicate search services.”
The complaint against Google was that it operated search and its advertising service AdWords in a discriminatory manner, causing harm to advertisers, and indirectly, to consumers. The complainants alleged that Google favoured its own services and partners by manually manipulating its search results to the advantage of its vertical partners such as Google Flights and therefore created an uneven playing field.