Google- CCI Row- Update

January 9, 2023

Within days of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) denying Google’s request for a stay on the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) ruling in the Android case, the tech giant filed an appeal with the Supreme Court (SC) against the NCLAT’s decision. The appeal is set to be mentioned by Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Senior Counsel representing Google, on Monday before the Chief Justice of India (CJI), D Y Chandrachud.

Background

On October 29, 2020, the CCI ruled that Google had abused its dominant position with its Google Play policy and imposed a fine of INR 937 crore (approximately $126 million). Google appealed the ruling to the NCLAT, requesting an immediate and complete stay on the order. In its appeal, Google argued that the CCI’s findings were “patently erroneous” and ignored “the reality of competition in India, Google’s procompetitive business model, and the benefits created for all stakeholders.” Google also accused the CCI’s investigation arm, the Office of the Director General (DG), of copying the conclusions of foreign authorities without proper consideration.

NCLAT’s Decision

The NCLAT bench, consisting of Justice Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava, denied Google’s request for interim relief, stating that the company had waited until the “eleventh hour” to appeal and that the case involved a large number of documents. The NCLAT also rejected Google’s argument that Android’s benefits to consumers should be taken into consideration, stating that the issue at hand was Google’s alleged anti-competitive practices and abuse of dominance.

Google has now appealed to the SC against the NCLAT’s decision. Under competition law, companies have a sixty-day window in which to appeal NCLAT orders. It remains to be seen how the SC will rule on the matter.

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