Google withdraws SC appeal against NCLAT order refusing stay on CCI’s Rs 936 crore penalty

The anti-trust watchdog directed Google to allow third-party billing or payment processing services.

Tech giant Google on April 17 withdrew its Supreme Court appeal against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) order refusing a stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) Rs 936 crore penalty for its alleged abuse of dominant position with regard to its Play Store policies.

Google has done so as it is pursuing its appeal against CCI’s order in NCLAT.

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.

The anti-trust regulator further said that mandatory imposition of GPBS disturbs innovation incentives and the ability of both the payment processors as well as app developers. It was held that imposing GPBS also results in the denial of market access for payment aggregators as well as app developers. Finally, the CCI concluded that the practices followed by Google resulted in leveraging its dominance in the market for licensable mobile OS and app stores for Android OS, to protect its position.

The anti-trust watchdog directed Google to allow third-party billing or payment processing services, either for in-app purchases or for purchasing apps. Google was directed not to discriminate against apps using third-party billing or payment processing services in any manner. The CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google and asked it to cease and desist from its anti-competitive practices with respect to Play Store