Exclusive: Google warns Android growth in India will stall due to antitrust order - Reuters India

NEW DELHI, Jan 10 (Reuters) - The maturation of Google's Android ecosystem is connected the brink of stalling successful India owed to an antitrust bid that asks the institution to alteration however it markets the platform, the U.S. institution has said successful a Supreme Court situation seen by Reuters.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) successful October fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google (GOOGL.O) $161 cardinal for exploiting its ascendant presumption successful Android, which powers 97% of smartphones successful India, and asked it to alteration restrictions imposed connected smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.

Google has truthful acold said the CCI determination volition unit it to alteration its long-standing concern model, but its Indian Supreme Court filing for the archetypal clip quantifies the interaction and details the changes the institution volition request to make.

Google volition request to modify its existing contracts, present caller licence agreements and change its existing arrangements with much than 1,100 instrumentality manufacturers and thousands of app developers, it says.

"Tremendous advancement successful maturation of an ecosystem of instrumentality manufacturers, app developers and users is astatine the verge of coming to a halt due to the fact that of the remedial directions," stated Google's filing, which is not public.

"Google volition beryllium required to marque far-reaching changes to the Android mobile level which has been successful spot for the past 14-15 years."

A Google spokesperson declined to comment.

Google has been concerned astir the Indian determination arsenic the remedies ordered are seen arsenic much sweeping than the European Commission's landmark 2018 ruling for imposing unlawful restrictions connected Android mobile instrumentality makers. Google has challenged the grounds $4.3 cardinal good successful that case.

Google licenses its Android strategy to smartphone makers, but critics accidental it imposes restrictions similar mandatory pre-installation of its ain apps that are anti-competitive. The institution argues specified agreements assistance support Android free.

The CCI successful October ordered Google to not prohibit un-installing of its apps by Android telephone users successful India -- currently, 1 can't delete apps specified arsenic Google Maps oregon YouTube from their Android phones erstwhile they travel pre-installed.

The CCI besides said Google's licensing of its Play Store "shall not beryllium linked with the request of pre-installing" Google hunt services, the Chrome browser, YouTube oregon immoderate different Google applications.

"No different jurisdiction has ever asked for specified far-reaching changes based connected akin conduct," Google said successful its tribunal submissions.

The institution has asked the Supreme Court to enactment connected hold the remedial measures ordered by the CCI, which footwear successful from Jan. 19, tribunal documents dated Jan. 7 showed. The lawsuit volition apt beryllium heard successful the coming days.

Google has besides alleged successful its ineligible filings that the CCI's probe portion copied parts of a European 2018 ruling against the U.S. firm, Reuters has reported. The CCI and the European Commission person not responded to those allegations.

Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Arpan Chaturvedi and Munsif Vengattil successful New Delhi; Editing by Susan Fenton

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