CCI order against Google a win for Indian app developers, battle still goes on: Indus OS' Rakesh Deshmukh

While the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order against Google allows third-party application developers to compete with the big tech company, the battle for a level playing field in the Android Mobile device ecosystem continues, according to Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder of home-grown application and content discovery platform Indus OS, which is now owned by PhonePe.

On October 20, the CCI fined Google Rs 1,337.76 crore for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android Mobile device ecosystem, in addition to issuing a cease and desist order. The competition watchdog also directed Google to modify its conduct within a defined timeline time frame.

“The CCI order gives a window of opportunity for Indian app developers. But Google has still not provided a level playing field to players like us. We will continue fighting this battle,” Deshmukh, who built the Indus OS in 2013 and has been a player in the Android Mobile device ecosystem for the last decade, told Moneycontrol in a virtual interaction. Edited Excerpts:

What would your first reaction be? And what does this mean for the Indian startup ecosystem?

Over the years, we have been a part of the Android ecosystem and closely examined the kind of obstacles it has posed in establishing a level playing field for competing applications, and how Google has a lot of strength.  It has reached the point where they have inked multiple contracts with mobile OEMs and App Stores. For example, I cannot distribute my app directly to the customer through the app store, which is ridiculous.

Among other things, the CCI order has allowed third-party apps access to distribution from Google Play Store. It also says that users can now delete the pre-installed Google applications on Android mobile phones. Hence, it is a milestone judgement for us.  This lends a great deal of confidence to the app industry as a whole, as companies can now compete with Google and will eventually have the option to build better products customised for India.

I understand this is a 10-year-long journey, a battle that you have fought. What are the red flags you have witnessed with Google’s competitive practices over the years?

We built our own operating system in 2013 with an emphasis on Indian languages. In that process, we have seen a lot of restrictions from Google. We have looked at these contracts and seen how complicated they are.

With this order, access to distribute our app has been unlocked. However, Google has not yet created a level playing field for players such as ourselves, as it flags all third-party apps, warning users of "external or untrusted sources" whenever they install such apps. Google also prohibits us from offering customised services on Android mobile devices.

Google has kept it as a proprietary technology.  They're not making it available to other developers. From our decade-long experience, we realized that if there has to be safe competition with Google services, alterations need to be made both at the OEM and secondary Android levels. We will continue fighting this battle.

Do you think this order is too little, too late? Because, if you look at Google's dominance in India, the Android operating system powers 97% of the 600 million smartphones in the country. So, how is this going to move the needle?

The dominance is absolutely there, which is why there is a CCI order in the first place. With this dominance, however, the question going forward is whether they will restrict or enable competition. There’s always a winner but if someone wants to build an app, why not give them a place to be in the market? Why can't we at least let the user choose?

We need to read it from a point of view that it is giving the window of opportunity for Indian app developers, those who want to build such applications.

What next? Google is free to challenge this order. So do you think this is just going to end up in courts as a protracted legal battle?

Google should be leading the marketplace for their product, not because of the proprietary rights they have over the technology. The strength lies in building a better ecosystem, not building competing tariffs against the ecosystem.

My view is that if they take a sensible view, and take it in a more positive way of building a better ecosystem for India, then they should accept what the order says.

(This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)