Google has accused the Indian competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), of copying parts of a European Union (EU) ruling in its decision to fine the company $157m for using its Android platform to dominate the market. Google made this claim in a filing to the Indian appeals tribunal, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).
The CCI had accused Google of entering into “one-sided agreements” with smartphone makers in order to ensure the dominance of its apps, a move that the regulator said was stifling competition and giving Google continuous access to consumer data and lucrative advertising opportunities. In its filing, Google also alleged that there were “more than 50 instances of copy-pasting” from the European Commission’s ruling.
The tribunal will hear Google’s appeal against the penalty on Wednesday. The CCI has not yet commented on these allegations.
This case is similar to the one Google faced in Europe, where regulators in 2018 imposed a record fine on the company for using the Android platform to cement its search engine’s dominance. In September of last year, Google lost an appeal it had filed in court against the order.
Google is facing a series of anti-trust cases in India and authorities are also investigating its conduct in the smart TV market and its in-app payments system. The Android-related inquiry was launched in 2019 following complaints from consumers of Android smartphones.
