The Competition Commission of India, which began investigating Google three and a half years ago following a complaint from two junior associates and a law student, said in a press release that Google requires device makers to pre-install all Google Mobile Suite and mandates the highlighting of those applications that "contribute to the imposition of unfair conditions on device manufacturers" and were "in contravention of the provisions of Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the Act".
India's competition regulator fined Google $161,9 million on Thursday for anti-competitive practices relating to Android mobile devices in "multiple markets", in a major setback for the search giant in the top foreign country where it has poured billions of dollars. dollars in the last decade.
The competition regulator's handling of the long-awaited report made headlines last year after a draft of its findings was obtained and released to the press. In response, Google moved to sue the regulator in court over the leak of the report and protested "the breach of trust", which it says undermines its ability to "defend itself and harms Google and its partners". .
Google and fines...
É Importantly, Google is facing increasing scrutiny from governments around the world as policy makers begin to worry about the reach of the tech giants and assess whether it hurts local companies. Google lost its appeal against a record fine of 4,3 billion dollars in the EU for using Android's dominance to thwart competition. It is also subject to Germany's new regulation targeting large companies.
It's time for us here in Africa to start rethinking the way giants destroy local businesses.