The Competition Commission of India (CCI), the country’s anti-monopoly regulator, has started investigating Google’s Android business in India last year after receiving several complaints.
Over 95 per cent of the smartphones that are used in India run on Android. The antitrust watchdog of India has decided to investigate Google to find out if it is abusing tis position in the market through its Android mobile operating system to hurt the business of its local competitors.
Earlier this year, the CCI found that Google had allegedly took advantage of its position in the nation’s market which has triggered a full investigation.
A Google spokesperson commented on the matter and stated, “Android has enabled millions of Indians to connect to the internet by making mobile devices more affordable. We look forward to working with the Competition Commission of India to demonstrate how Android has led to more competition and innovation, not less.”
The probe is expected to take a whole year because it is concluded as google executives may have to be summoned to defend their case. The CCI is yet to provide a public comment on the investigation.
It has been speculated that if Google is found guilty of the accusations, it would be fined around 10 per cent of the revenue it makes in India or around d300 per cent of its net profits.
While India is currently one of Google’s largest markets, the company makes quite a small amount of profit within the country as opposed to its profit in other countries. Last year, Google’s revenue in India was $1.4 billion, compared to a profit of over $100 billion which it generated globally in the same year.
The identity of the people who made the accusations against the company and the details of the accusations are yet to be revealed.
Other countries have been investigating Google as well, namely EU member states, as they are all concerned about whether its market dominance is being abused.
Towards the beginning of this year, EU regulators found that OEM partners were forced by Google to pre-bundle several apps such as Google Search, Chrome and the Play Store.
Following this, Google said it would give its users more choices for search engines and browsers on Androids.
