The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on November 24 issued a notification stating that the appeal filed by Google against the Play Store antitrust order issued by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) will not be taken up on November 28 as scheduled. The reason for deferring the hearing was not provided. The next date of hearing will be notified later, the notice said. The appeal concerns the CCI order issued on October 25 mandating major changes to Google Play policies and fining the company ₹936 crores for its anti-competitive conduct. You can read our summary of the order here. Google has challenged this order with NCLAT. If the tribunal doesn't rule in its favour, Google can further file an appeal at the Supreme Court, as it has done in the case of the antitrust order issued by CCI around Google's Android policies. In its appeal, Google has argued that the CCI order is defective because it excluded key stakeholders from its inquiry, posed leading questions to those who were interviewed, and cherry-picked evidence. While the order is pending appeal in front of NCLAT, the CCI is also looking into whether Google is fully compliant with the order or not, as startups have complained that the policy changes made by Google don't go far enough. Separately, the Madras High Court is also hearing multiple challenges filed by startups against Google’s billing policy. Timeline of events November 2020: CCI launched an investigation into the Google Play Store based on a…
