The Supreme Court accepted appeals from Google, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), and Alliance Digital India Foundation (ADIF) against a National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) decision. The NCLAT had partially supported the antitrust authority’s findings that Google misused its dominance in the Android ecosystem, according to a report by the Bar and Bench.
The technology giant faced allegations of abuse of dominance for enforcing unfair Play Store policies and favouring its own payments app, Google Pay.
A bench of Justices PS Narasimha and AS Chandurkar scheduled the matter for hearing in November.
The case stems from a CCI probe that began in November 2020 regarding Google’s billing practices on the Play Store. In October 2022, the CCI found that Google abused its dominant market position by requiring the use of the Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for app transactions while exempting its own apps, such as YouTube, from comparable commission requirements.
A fine of ₹936.44 crore was imposed on Google and it was ordered to stop anti-competitive practices, such as permitting third-party billing and promoting data transparency.