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The Competition Commission of India clubs an information filed by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation against Alphabet Inc. and other Google entities regarding billing policy with ongoing investigations. The Director General investigates the matter alongside Case Nos. 37 of 2022, 17 of 2023, and 27 of 2023. The Commission declines to order investigation on additional issues that are already under scrutiny in separate Section 42 proceedings. The Director General submits a consolidated investigation report without expanding the scope beyond the earlier order dated 15.03.2024.
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COMPETITION COMMISSION OF INDIA
26.06.2024
Case No. 18 of 2024
In Re:
Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) | Informant
And
| Alphabet Inc. | Opposite Party No. 1 |
|---|---|
| Google LLC | Opposite Party No. 2 |
| Google India Private Limited | Opposite Party No. 3 |
| Google India Digital Services Pvt. Ltd. | Opposite Party No. 4 |
ORDER
The present Information has been filed by Alliance of Digital India Foundation (Informant) under Section 19(1)(a) of the Competition Act, 2002 (Act) against the Opposite Parties (collectively, “Google”). The Informant is primarily aggrieved by billing policy of Google for in-app purchases and paid apps. The Informant has alleged that Google is abusing its dominant position in the relevant market by imposing its policy and thus, is in violation of various provisions of Section 4 of the Act.
The Commission considered the Information in its ordinary meeting held today.
In this regard, it is noted that the Commission, vide its order dated 15.03.2024 passed under Section 26(1) of the Act in Case Nos. 37 of 2022, 17 of 2023 and 27 of 2023, has directed the Director General (DG) to investigate certain aspects of Google's billing policy. The Informant in the present matter has inter alia also raised similar / identical issues. Thus, the subject matter of the present information (i.e., Case No. 18 of 2024) is similar to the subject matter under investigation before the DG in abovementioned cases. Therefore, in terms of proviso to Section 26(1) of the Act, the Commission decided to club the present Information with Case Nos. 37 of 2022, 17 of 2023 and 27 of 2023.
It is further noted that the Informant has raised certain other issues as well viz. UI/UX guidelines relating to User Choice Billing (UCB) policy of Google, data collection practices of Google, negotiated agreements with app developers, un-availability of UCB for paid apps, anti-steering provisions, consumption-based model, etc. In this regard, it is noted that the Commission is already seized of these issues in the ongoing Section 42 proceedings against Google in Case Nos. 07 of 2020, 14 of 2021 and 35 of 2021. Therefore, the Commission is not inclined to accede to the prayer of the Informant to order investigation on these allegations.
Resultantly, the DG is directed to investigate the present matter also along with Case Nos. 37 of 2022, 17 of 2023 and 27 of 2023 and submit a consolidated investigation report. The DG is further directed to keep the scope of his investigation in terms of the Order of the Commission dated 15.03.2024 without expanding the same based on the other allegations made by the Informant in the present matter as mentioned in para 4 above.
The Secretary is directed to send a copy of this order along with the Information and other material available on record to the office of DG forthwith, through e-mail. The Secretary is further directed to serve a copy of this order to the counsel(s) of the parties also, through e-mail.
Sd/-
(Deepak Anurag)
Member
Sd/-
(Sweta Kakkad)
Member
Sd/-
(Anil Agrawal)
Member
Sd/-
(Ravneet Kaur)
Chairperson
Case No. 18 of 2024 | 2
