Google Faces Another Fine In India For Android Dominance

After being compelled to pay billion dollars for taking advantage of its dominance in Europe to draw attention to its own service, Google now faces a similar situation where it is the target of antitrust fine in India.

The CCI (short for Competition Commission of India) accused Google of exploiting its vast market share of Android in the country to force device manufacturers to give up on the idea of choosing another operating system.

Here is what Reuters reported after reviewing a 14-page order from CCI:

In India alone, Android is by far the most popular operating system, achieving a rate of 99% of devices running on it.

The CCI conducted an investigation this April after the accusation of Google abusing Android’s dominance for competing. The allegation came after the assessment that Google forces manufacturers to pre-load their own apps to devices.

Here is what CCI said about the impact of this act:

This means the government agency has found evidence against Google in this case.

The search engine company has been accused of exploiting its dominance of Android before. In 2016, it was under a $6.8 million fine from Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service after a rival called Yandex filed for an antitrust complaint.

Last July, It was fined again by the European Commission for bundling its own apps on Android. The company was also the accusation of forcing manufacturers to pre-install the company’s browser and search apps in their devices.

Google announced that it would ask Android users in Europe about which search engine they want to use on their devices. Last year, the company also got a fine from CCI for encouraging search bias.