India Supreme Court jolts Google by refusing to block Android antitrust ruling - Reuters

NEW DELHI, Jan 19 (Reuters) - India's Supreme Court connected Thursday declined Google's petition to artifact an antitrust bid that forces it to alteration however it markets its Android platform, dealing a large stroke to the U.S. institution successful a cardinal maturation market.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google, which is owned by Alphabet Inc (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 challenged the directive successful the Supreme Court saying it would wounded consumers and its business, warning the maturation of the Android ecosystem could stall.

A Supreme Court's three-judge bench, which included India's main justice, delaying the Jan. 19 implementation day for the CCI's directives by 1 week but declined to artifact the ruling contempt Google's repeated requests.

"We are not inclined to interfere," said Chief Justice D.Y Chandrachud said.

During the hearing, Chandrachud told Google: "Look astatine the benignant of authorization which you wield successful presumption of dominance."

India's apical tribunal asked a little tribunal, which is already proceeding the matter, to determine connected Google's situation by March 31.

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

The Supreme Court ruling complicates Google's concern practices successful India arsenic the institution could beryllium forced to alteration its agreements with smartphone players and different instrumentality makers successful the coming days, different lawyers acquainted with the determination said.

The CCI has ordered Google the 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.

It besides ordered Google to not prohibit uninstalling its apps by Android telephone users successful India. Currently, apps specified arsenic Google Maps oregon YouTube tin not beryllium deleted from Android phones erstwhile they travel pre-installed.

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

Google besides says successful its India filings that "no different jurisdiction has ever asked for specified far-reaching changes".

Google had besides argued successful its ineligible filings, seen by Reuters, that CCI's probe portion "copy-pasted extensively from a European Commission decision, deploying grounds from Europe that was not examined successful India".

N. Venkataraman, a authorities lawyer representing the CCI, told the apical court: "We person not cut, transcript and paste."

Reporting by Aditya Kalra, Arpan Chaturvedi and Munsif Vengattil; editing by Jason Neely and Vin Shahrestani

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