The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has reportedly moved the Supreme Court in the Google penalty case. As per updates, the CCI has challenged a part of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal’s (NCLAT) verdict that upheld the Rs 1,337 crore penalty on Google.
According to a report in the Economic Times, NCLAT’s order on Google had to do with the tech giant allegedly misusing its dominant position in the Android ecosystem. However, it also set aside four out of the 10 directives that were imposed on Google in order for it to change its business model.
The report adds that CCI has challenged a part of the NCLAT order that held that in order to prove abuse of dominance under Section 4 of the Competition Act, CCI must do an “effective analysis.” It also adds that the “test to be employed in the effect analysis is whether the abusive conduct is anticompetitive or not.”
Going back to the time when the NCLAT accepted Google’s stand, the appellate tribunal reportedly mentioned that Section 4 excluded discriminatory conditions or prices. These mostly had to do with the requirements to meet the competition.
For the unversed, the NCLAT recently partially upheld CCI’s October, 2022 order mentioning that Google had abused its dominant position in markets. This mostly had to do with the Android and online search. Back then, the appellate tribunal gave the tech giant almost 30 days to implement changes and remedial actions suggested by the CCI.
