In a significant setback for Google, India’s Supreme Court on January 19 refused to provide the company with any interim relief from the Android antitrust order issued by the country’s competition watchdog, LiveLaw reported.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) issued its antitrust ruling in October ordering the company to make significant changes to its Android policies and pay a fine of ₹1338 crores. Google appealed this order at the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), but NCLAT on January 3 refused to provide any interim relief. Following this, Google approached the Supreme Court for relief on January 7.
The Supreme Court heard the case on January 17 and January 19 (yesterday) and noted that there are no “manifest errors” in the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order and thus it won’t interfere with NCLAT’s refusal to issue any interim relief or comment on the merits and demerits of the case, the report stated.
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The court, however, directed NCLAT to hear Google’s appeal by March 31. It also gave Google another week to comply with the order, which originally was to be complied with by January 19.
Google said that it is reviewing the decision and will co-ordinate with CCI on the way forward. For more on the arguments put forth by Google at the Supreme Court, read LiveLaw’s coverage here or Bar and Bench’s Twitter thread.
Hearing begins.
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi outlines structure of his arguments.
— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) January 19, 2023
Why does this matter: This ruling means Google will have to make a major overhaul to its Android OS. Some of the notable changes the company has to make include:
- No forced pre-installation of Google apps like Google Maps, Search, Chrome, etc.
- Allow users to set other search engines like Bing as default at the device setup stage
- Allow listing of other app stores on the Play Store
- No restrictions on side-loading i.e. allowing users to download apps from outside app stores, such as from a browser, without showing them warnings or making it difficult in some way
- No disincentivising Android forks i.e. discouraging the development of multiple versions of Android
- Cannot offer any monetary/other incentives to smartphone companies to ensure Google Search is exclusively used on their devices
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Also Read
- Will You Follow Same Android Policies In India As In Europe, Supreme Court Asks Google
- 5 Reasons Why Google Believes India’s Android & Play Store Antitrust Orders Are Misguided
- Strike Two For Google: NCLAT Refuses Interim Relief To Google In Anti-Trust Order
- Google Challenges India’s Android Antitrust Order At The Supreme Court
