By S.N.Thyagarajan
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) adjourned the final hearing of tech giant Google’s appeal against the order by Competition Commission of India (CCI) imposing a penalty of Rs 936 crore for abusing its dominant position in the playstore ecosystem.
The NCLAT released a notice on November 24 deferring the hearing of Google’s appeal, the appellate tribunal was to commence the hearing on November 28. On September 25, the NCLAT announced that it will commence the final hearing of the case.
On January 11, the tribunal refused to grant immediate relief to Google against CCI’s order and posted the case for the final hearing in April 2023. While Google filed an appeal at the Supreme Court against the NCLAT order, it ultimately withdrew the case.
The CCI on October 25, 2022, penalised the tech giant for restricting app developers from using any third-party billing or payment processing services to purchase apps for in-app billing on Google Play Store. Google Play Store is a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google, from where mobile apps are downloaded.
The CCI held that making access to Play Store, for app developers, dependent on mandatory usage of Google Play Billing System (GPBS) for paid apps and in-app purchases constitutes an imposition of an unfair condition on app developers. The CCI held that Google was following discriminatory practices by not using GPBS for its own application – YouTube.