NCLAT asks Google and CCI to respond to firms challenging Play Store billing policy

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Also read: Can Perplexity do to Google what Microsoft did to IBM back in the day? They approached NCLAT after the CCI rejected their pleas on 20 March, saying there were insufficient grounds for such action. However, the CCI asked its Director General (DG) – its independent investigative arm – to continue its probe into Google's Play Store policies. The CCI had launched the probe on 15 March, saying Google may have violated various parts of Competition Act, and asked the director general to complete the investigation in 60 days.

The CCI order suggests that Google's unified codebase – a monolithic software repository used by 95% of its software developers worldwide – may constitute an abuse of its dominant position. Also read: Google in trouble with CCI again, this time for violating fair pricing rules Companies challenging the policy said Google's service fees of 11-26% were excessive, disproportionate and discriminatory, leading to substantial losses and denial of market access for app developers. They pointed out that while Google provides services equally to all apps on the Play Store, it charges only a small subsection of app developers.

They also said the CCI's order ignored important facts and evidence, and said user choice billing was nothing but a repackaged version of the Google Play Billing System (GPBS). The dispute between Google and app developers stretches back years. In March, Google removed several apps, including Bharat Matrimony, owing to disagreements over its service fee for in-app purchases.