App Billing Policy: HC dismisses 14 of 16 petitions against Google

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Madras High Court has dismissed 14 of the 16 pleas filed by Indian startups against Google's app billing policy, ruling that it was a matter falling under the jurisdiction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI). The court decision leaves many of the companies, including Matrimony.com, Shadi.com and Unacademy, without the protection of the interim injunction from the court that had prevented Google from delisting their apps from its App Store. The companies had approached the high court after Google asked them to either adopt the company’s mandated billing route or risk being removed from its Play Store.

The two pleas that have not been rejected thus far were filed by streaming player Disney+ Hotstar and exam preparation app Testbook. People in the know told ET this may be because their applications were filed after those by the other companies. They said the startups that have had their plea dismissed may approach the CCI as well as the Reserve Bank of India, which regulates payment services, to seek relief and protection from being delisted.

In its order on Thursday, which was uploaded on the court website on Friday, Justice S Sounthar observed that the Competition Act was enacted as a special law to deal with abuse of dominant position by enterprises in the Indian economy. “Special law will prevail over the general law," Justice Sounthar said. Section 61 of Competition Act expressly barred the jurisdiction of a civil court in respect of the matters which fall within the jurisdiction of the CCI, the judge said.

Google said it has no comment to offer on the matter. The startups ET reached out to were unwilling to talk on record. «The situation right now is that Google has the freedom to do whatever they want and