Google alleges India antitrust body copypasted EU ruling on Android case, failed to conduct fair probe

Google alleged before an Indian tribunal that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) copied parts of a European ruling against it for abusing the market dominance of its Android operating system.

In seeking to quash CCI’s decision, Google argues the investigation unit of India’s antitrust body extensively copypasted a European Commission decision.

Consequently, CCI failed to conduct an impartial, balanced, and legally sound investigation.

The CCI, the country's antitrust body, fined Alphabet Inc's Google $161 million in October, for exploiting its dominant position in markets such as online search and the Android app store. It also asked Google to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.

Google was worried about CCI’s decision as the remedies ordered were seen as more sweeping than the European Commission's landmark 2018 ruling, where it was fined $4.3 billion, for imposing unlawful restrictions on Android mobile device makers. Google has the fine in that case.