Google has different standards in EU, India

NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court of India has asked Google if it will put in place the same regime in India as it did in the European Union. This is in response to the Competition Commission of India’s argument that Google was taking different standards in Europe and India.

During the hearing on Monday, CCI said the EU Commission had found the practice of Google to be anti-competitive way back in 2016 and that the tech company has since complied with the order in Europe. However, the competition regulator says the US tech company is unwilling to follow a similar order passed by the CCI.

Supreme Court was hearing a plea filed by Google after the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refused to stay a CCI order levying a penalty Rs 1,338-crore for exploiting its dominant position with respect to Android. The order passed by the NCLAT on January 6 refused to stay the CCI’s order and directed it to deposit 10% of the penalty amount within a period of three weeks.  The court also said it could consider sending the application filed by Google back to the NCLAT. The matter will now be heard on January 18, 2023.

Meanwhile, Google in a statement said CCI’s ruling is a setback for the entire Android ecosystem in India, which has been built and nurtured by Google over the last decade. The ruling could lead to increased consumer costs, reduced choice and competition, and less innovation.

“Since incompatible Android forks will not support the security and user safety features that Google provides, security responsibilities for these devices will instead fall to the OEMs, who will need to invest extensively in creating consistent, all-year-round security upgrades themselves.”