The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has ordered a detailed investigation into Google's payment policies and alleged manipulation into its practice within Play Store. The apex body for anti-trust matters said that there was prima facie evidence that Google may be abusing its dominant position in India, with regards to Play Store's exclusivity and Google Pay (GPay) services. In an order on November 9, the CCI has ordered an investigation into four aspects of Google's practices: Exclusivity regarding mode of payments for app purchases Google Play store is imposing Google's payment gateway on apps and a high commission Google encourages pre-installs of Google Pay and OEMs have no choice but to agree to terms imposed by Google Search manipulation and bias by Google in favour of Google Pay. However, it has not ordered an investigation into allegations of search and ad manipulation as well as exclusive access to data through GPay. The CCI says that Google and its subsidiary Google India Digital Services are entities that operate in the smartphone operating systems (OS) market and the Android app store market. The commission noted that when it comes to the market for operating systems, Googles' position is not constrained as most smartphone manufacturers cannot substitute the Android OS. And since Android smartphones are the most prevalent OS in India, by extension Google's Play Store is a "dominant source of downloading apps on an Android smartphone." The commission also examined Google Pay's UPI app (Google Pay) role as it operates within the…
