In his last order, Competition Commission of India (CCI) has called on Google to “cease and desist” from practicing policies that supposedly give it the power to abuse its dominant position in running the Play Store, home to millions of apps that Android phone customers can download. “…the practices followed by Google result in leveraging its dominance in the market for licensed mobile operating systems (operating system) and app stores to Android operating systemto protect its position in downstream markets,” CCI said.
A Google spokesperson did not comment on the matter. The company is believed to be planning to take legal action against developments it deems contrary to its current business practices.
CCI said Play Store policies require app developers to “exclusively and compulsorily” use Google Play’s billing system (GPBS) not only to receive payments for applications (and other digital products such as audio, video, games) distributed/sold through the Google Play Store, but also for certain in-app purchases, i.e. i.e. purchases made by app users after downloading/purchasing the app from the Play Store.
Additionally, app developers may not, in an app, provide users with a direct link to a web page containing an alternate payment method or use language that encourages a user to purchase the digital item outside of the app. ‘application.
If app developers do not comply with Google’s policy on the use of GPBS, they are not allowed to list their apps on the Play Store and thereby lose a large pool of potential customers in the form of Android users.
It was also found that Google followed discriminatory practices by not using GPBS for YouTube, which is its own application.
