Google Files Legal Complaint Against CCI For Protecting Amazon: Report Google is currently arguing against any penalty in India's Supreme Court and denying allegations of market abuse
By Teena Jose
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Google has filed a complaint with India's Supreme Court accusing the country's antitrust body, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), of ordering changes to its business model solely to protect its rival, Amazon.
Google has reached out to India's Supreme Court to overrule an October 2022 order from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which asked Google to make 10 changes to its business model after the CCI found that the company misused its dominant position in the market with its Android operating system, according to a Reuters report, citing a legal document.
According to Google's recent filing with the Supreme Court, there is a growing disagreement between the company and the CCI regarding the Android investigation. In a previous filing in December, Google had reportedly accused CCI officers of 'copypasting' portions of a European ruling against the company in a similar case, a claim which the CCI denied.
In October 2022, the CCI fined Google $163 million for anticompetitive practices. The company was ordered to not restrict users from uninstalling pre-installed apps like Google Maps and Gmail and also allow users to pick the search engine of their choice, among other things.
Amazon said to the CCI during the probe that Google's restrictions impeded the development of its Android fork called Fire OS. According to Google, the CCI's decision was a response to Amazon's complaint that its attempts to create a forked version of Android were unsuccessful due to Google's restrictions.
Google is currently arguing against any penalty in India's Supreme Court and denying allegations of market abuse. The CCI, in a separate filing seen by Reuters, urges that Google must comply with all its directives.
Following the CCI's order, Google has made significant changes to its Android business model in India. A lower tribunal has ruled that Google must pay the penalty and confirmed the company's market abuse, in line with the CCI's findings. However, Google continues to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court, stated the report.
