CCI’s mandate against Google is a step towards digital revolution
- ByStartupStory | January 14, 2023
The CCI’s ruling against internet giant Google is a step forward in India’s digital revolution, according to a top official of the indigenously developed apps platform Indus OS on Friday.
According to Indus OS Co-Founder and CEO Rakesh Deshmukh, the CCI’s mandate against Google clearly encourages software innovation, which will not only help bring down the prices of smartphone devices but also ensure even greater digital penetration, rather than stalling the growth of the Android ecosystem by raising the device price point. The CCI fined Google Rs 1,337.76 crore in October last year for abusing its dominant position with Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India. It imposed another Rs 936 crore fine on the US tech behemoth in a case involving its Play Store policies. While in the first case, CCI asked Google to allow Android smartphone users to uninstall apps and choose a search engine of their choice, in the second case, the regulator asked the company to correct policies that required developers to use Google Play’s billing system to list their apps on its Play Store.
Currently, one cannot delete apps such as Google Maps or YouTube from their Android phones when they come pre-installed. “In its ruling, CCI has categorically demonstrated multiple anti-competitive actions carried out by Google in the last decade. In fact, it scuttled Indian entrepreneurs in the Android ecosystem with unfair and restrictive Google policies. The CCI’s mandate against Google is a step towards ushering in the next phase of digital revolution in the country,” Deshmukh said in a statement.
He stated that Google has writ a petition to the Supreme Court that the ruling will halt the growth of the Android ecosystem in the country, negatively impacting all stakeholders and driving up device prices. “The argument however is contradictory as competition breeds innovation which only makes technology more affordable for everyone. Google itself has pointed out that the prices of smartphone devices have dropped drastically over the last five years. This has been made possible only due to innovations in the field of mobile hardware,” Deshmukh said. Indus OS hosts apps in vernacular language. Google has barred Indus OS from hosting its app on the Play store.
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