The Competition Commission of India: Google’s anti-trust case probed

The Competition Commission of India: Google’s anti-trust case probed

Part of: GS-Prelims and GS-II – Statutory Bodies & GS-III – Information and Technology; Computers 

In News:

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is looking into allegations that Google is abusing its market position to unfairly promote its mobile payments app in the country. 

Key takeaways 

• The complaint alleges that Google showcases its Google Pay app inside its Android app store in India more prominently. 
• Thus, it gives it an unfair advantage over apps of competitors, which hurts consumers. 
• This is Google’s third major antitrust challenge in India. 
• In 2018, the CCI fined Google $21 million for “search bias”.  
• In 2019, the CCI also started probing Google for allegedly misusing its dominant position to reduce the ability of smartphone manufacturers to opt for alternate versions of its Android mobile operating system.

Important value additions 

Competition Commission of India (CCI) 

• It is a statutory body of the Government of India. 
• It is responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002 throughout India.
• It prevents activities that have an appreciable adverse effect on competition in India. 
• It was established on 14 October 2003 and became fully functional in May 2009. 
• CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government. 
• It is the duty of the Commission to:
  • eliminate practices having adverse effect on competition, 
  • promote and sustain competition,
  • protect the interests of consumers, 
  • ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India. 

Competition Act, 2002

• It follows the philosophy of modern competition laws. 
• The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises. 
• It regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and Merger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.