Alphabet Inc’s Google was fined $113.04 million ($936 crore) on Tuesday as India completed yet another antitrust investigation this month.
The investigation concluded that Google abused its market position on the Play Store to promote its payments app and in-app payment system. India has also ordered the company to stop engaging in unfair business practises.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued a statement on Tuesday saying, “The Commission hereby directs Google to cease and desist from engaging in anti-competitive practises.
” It stated that Google should not prohibit app developers from using third-party billing or payment processing services for in-app purchases or app purchases.
This is India’s second antitrust penalty against Google this month. Google was fined $162 million, or Rs. 1,337.76 crore, by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday for anticompetitive Android practises.
Google was fined after an investigation discovered that the tech behemoth was abusing its dominant position in the local smartphone market.
According to research firm Counterpoint, the California-based company’s Android mobile operating system is by far the dominant player in India, powering 95 percent of the country’s smartphones.
“By tying up the YouTube App with the Play Store, Google has abused its dominant position and thus violated provisions of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act,” it said.
According to Counterpoint Research, Google’s Android operating system powers 97% of India’s 600 million smartphones.
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