Google unfairly barred rival payment services on India Play Store: CCI

Initial outcomes of a thorough investigation by India's antitrust agency have reportedly found Google's billing structure for app developers to be discriminatory and unfair, which is setting the path for future penalties for the organization.

According to credible sources, the Indian Competition Commission found that Google discriminated against developers in its Play Store charging structure. The conclusions obtained are the result of several complaints that the internet giant charges developers heavily for utilizing Android app stores and its proprietary payments service.

Officials throughout the world have made accusations against Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc. as well as Apple Inc. for pushing developers to use their payment systems in exchange for a disproportionate share of their revenue.

For those unaware, South Korea made Google develop a different payment mechanism, following which Google announced a reduction of 4% for app developers’ fees in that market.

According to a report presented by the Competition Commission of India, Google’s conduct is leading to reduced market access for other UPI apps, since the market for UPI permitted digital payment apps are multi-sided, and therefore the network effects will cause a state where competitors of Google Pay are going to be excluded from the market eventually.

Reactions in India have been vehement, further underlining how Google's issues could restrain future growth. More than 200 entrepreneurs banded together to urge the government to prevent it from imposing a 30% fee on smartphone app purchases, as it does in other countries.

For those unaware, Google used to levy a 30% charge on major purchases & subscriptions made on the app store. However, in recent years, the cost has been reduced to 15% for media companies like Spotify.

Speaking of which, Spotify has expressed dissatisfaction with the inability to implement its billing systems on app stores for mobile devices.

Source Credit:

https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world/google-found-to-unfairly-block-rival-payments-on-india-store-8313031.html