Google Play antitrust probe: Investigation may end in 60 days, CCI tells Karnataka HC

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on January 5 told the Karnataka High Court that its investigation arm Director General (DG) has given an assurance that they will complete the ongoing investigation on Google within 60 days 'in all likelihood'.

Additional Solicitor General N Venkataraman, who was appearing on behalf of the competition watchdog, made this submission at a hearing on the petition filed by Google at the Karnataka High Court.

Google had approached the court on December 27, seeking more time to respond to the questions from the CCI related to the mandatory use of its Play Store’s payment system for paid apps and in-app purchases.

The CCI had in November 2020 directed a probe into the issue of mandatory use of Google Play Store’s payment system for paid apps and in-app purchases. The commission is of the prima facie view that such a policy is unfair as it restricts the ability of app developers to select a payment processing system of their choice.

Venkataraman suggested that if the investigation itself will be completed, the judge can take the final hearing into account. He also submitted that Google should cooperate with the investigation so that the Director General (DG) of its investigation arm could complete the probe within 60 days.

Google’s counsel Senior Advocate Gopal Subramanium said the company has cooperated with the CCI and will continue to do so. It has furnished about 9,000 pages of documents as part of this probe, he noted.

Subramanium submitted that if the inquiry is going to proceed, then the interim relief application by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) is entirely unnecessary, particularly since they have extended the deadline by seven months for app developers to integrate with its Play billing system in India to October 31, 2022, and there is no urgency on this matter.

Following this, both of them sought to close the petition with Subramanium also offering to collaborate with the Additional Solicitor General to file a joint memo for the disposal of the petition.

A single judge bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit directed the parties to file a joint memo and adjourned the case for further hearing on January 10.

"We are pleased with the outcome of today’s hearing before the Karnataka High Court and welcome the CCI’s recognition that there is no need to proceed with ADIF’s request for interim orders, and that the CCI will instead focus on completing its ongoing factual investigation. As we have said previously, we will continue to cooperate with the CCI’s investigative process" a Google spokesperson said in a statement.

During the hearing, Abir Roy, the counsel for ADIF, submitted that they should have a right to file for subsequent interim relief even after the DG’s investigation is out, to which Subramanium submitted to the court that they would be at liberty to file any application for interim relief if the occasion warrants it.

“Google’s consistent attempts throughout have been to implement their mandatory PlayStore billing policy and to also delay or evade any antitrust indictment. By conveying to the Court that the CCI is expected to complete their investigation in 60 days, the antitrust regulator has essentially checkmated Google’s attempt to delay the overall antitrust investigation process by exploiting legal challenges” said Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director, ADIF.

ADIF’s Interim Application

On October 11, Moneycontrol reported that the ADIF had moved the CCI to seek interim relief against the implementation of Google Play Store commission till the investigation into the tech giant’s abuse of dominance is complete.

ADIF is a New Delhi-based think tank comprising more than 470 entrepreneurs and start-ups, including the likes of Matrimony.com, Paytm, MapMyIndia, TrulyMadly, and GOQii among others.

Following the ADIF’s interim relief application in October 2021 that had detailed names of app developers affected by this policy, the CCI had directed Google to file its response by November 19, to which the firm had sought eight more weeks to respond. The CCI had, however, rejected this request and directed it to respond by December 31, 2021.

The regulator also rejected Google’s request for access to the identity of app developers and start-ups that had given evidence of allegedly suffering harm from these guidelines through the ADIF plea.

On December 10, 2021, Google announced that it was extending the deadline by seven months for app developers to integrate with its Play billing system in India, to help developers with necessary product support for recurring payments through UPI, wallets and other systems in the backdrop of India’s latest guidelines.

App developers in India now have to comply with the Play billing policy by October 31, 2022. The deadline for other markets ended on September 31, 2021.

The company had argued that this extension should render the ADIF application unnecessary since it lacked the urgency required for interim relief. The CCI had, however, dismissed this argument.

Apart from the Play Store probe, the CCI has also opened anti-trust investigations against Google over its alleged dominance in multiple areas, including its Android smartphone agreements and smart TV business.

It’s worth noting that Google had earlier taken the CCI to court over alleged “leak” of a confidential interim report related to an ongoing investigation into the company’s Android smartphone agreements on September 23. The case was dismissed a few days later, with the CCI agreeing to the company’s requests to keep information confidential during the course of the investigation.

The CCI has also opened an investigation against Apple’s business practices related to the app store in the country, saying it was of the prima facie view that the tech giant has violated some of the provisions of the Competition Act.

Read: All you need to know about the CCI’s anti-trust probe against Apple’s app store practices

(Note: The story has been updated with statements from Google and ADIF)