Google makes last shot at keeping its apps and the Play Store together on Android in India
The European Union has taken a number of steps to curb the power of Big Tech in its jurisdiction — Google in particular has been on the receiving end ofsteep finesover antitrust violations. The company is also facing similar pushback from regulators in India. Back in October last year, the Competition Commission of India slapped the company with afine of $161.9 millionfor compelling Android device manufacturers to include Google apps if they sought to license itsPlay Store and associated services. Following a failed attempt at an appeal with the tribunal last week, the search giant is now seeking recourse from the Indian Supreme Court.
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The ruling plainly states that mandating OEMs pre-load Google apps “amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device manufacturers,” while it also frees up OEMs to install third-party app stores or delete first-party apps without facing any repercussions from Google. The company will lose out big time without the key integrations its current licensing scheme enables especially in a market with more than 600 million smartphone users asEngadgetrightly points out. Google will need this Supreme Court punt to work.
This isn’t the first such penalty faced by Google as the company was ordered to pay €4.34 billion by the European Commission in 2018 over similar allegations, which isalso under appeal.
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