Google fined $162 mln by India antitrust watchdog for abuse of Android platform - Reuters India

NEW DELHI, Oct 20 (Reuters) - India's contention regulator connected Thursday ordered Alphabet Inc's (GOOGL.O) Google to alteration its attack to its Android level and fined the U.S. tech institution 13.38 cardinal Indian rupees ($161.95 million) for anticompetitive practices.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said Google leveraged its ascendant presumption successful markets specified arsenic online hunt and app store for Android, to support the presumption of its apps similar Chrome and YouTube successful mobile Web browsers and online video hosting.

CCI besides restricted Google from definite gross sharing agreements with smartphone makers, noting that specified practices helped Google to unafraid exclusivity for its hunt services "to the full exclusion of competitors."

Google declined to remark connected the order.

"Markets should beryllium allowed to vie connected merits and the onus is connected the ascendant players (in the contiguous case, Google) that its behaviour does not impinge this contention connected merits," CCI said successful a statement.

The U.S. institution is facing a bid of antitrust cases and the tightening of existing tech-sector regulations successful India.

The contention watchdog is separately looking successful to Google's concern behaviour successful the astute TV marketplace and its in-app payments system.

The Android-related probe, started successful 2019, was sparked by a ailment from 2 inferior Indian antitrust probe associates and a instrumentality schoolhouse student. The Indian lawsuit is akin to 1 faced by Google successful Europe, wherever regulators imposed a $5 cardinal good connected the institution for forcing manufacturers to pre-install its apps connected Android devices.

Google was ordered by India connected Thursday not to restrict smartphone users from uninstalling its pre-installed apps similar Google Maps and Gmail.

CCI besides asked Google to let users to prime their hunt motor of prime for each applicable services portion mounting up a telephone for the archetypal time.

Google's Android operating strategy powers 97% of India's 600 cardinal smartphones, according to Counterpoint Research.

($1 = 82.6180 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra successful New Delhi Additional Reporting by Nallur Sethuraman successful Bengaluru Editing by Devika Syamnath, Peter Graff and Matthew Lewis

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