CCI probes Google’s user choice billing system

In an order on Friday, which ET has seen, the antitrust regulator has also asked Google to elaborate the basis on which it decided to offer UCB to developers providing apps to users in India, but not to Indian developers offering apps to users located outside the country.

The CCI said “having considered the material available on record including the compliance report and submissions made by the parties”, it was of the view “that an inquiry needs to be made into the compliance” of its order against Google passed in October last year. As part of the order, the CCI had asked Google to submit a report detailing it has complied with the directive.

The matter reached the CCI after the ADIF filed a writ petition in the Delhi High Court, requesting it to direct the antitrust regulator to take up the industry association’s complaints against Google’s UCB system. A single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court asked the CCI to take up the matter. Google has appealed the ruling before a division bench, which has yet to make a decision in the case.

Google did not respond to queries sent by ET till Friday press time.

The CCI, in October, had issued two orders against Google for engaging in anticompetitive practices and asked it to change certain ways it operated the Android mobile operating system. One of the changes ordered pertained to the Google Play Billing System (GBPS), which mandated app developers to use the in-app purchase billing system that attracted a 30% commission.

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The regulator had also fined Google Rs 2,275 crore in the two orders.Following this, Google introduced the UCB system, where app developers could offer alternative billing options like UPI, card payments, net banking, etc., but even those options would be charged a commission of 11-26%.

ET reported on April 21 that Google was asking Indian app developers to mandatorily use GPBS in territories outside India, failing which their apps would be delisted from the Google Play Store in 14 days.

In its Friday order, the CCI noted that despite it asking the US tech giant not to impose any anti-steering provisions on app developers, such provisions continued to be a part of the company’s payment policy. It, therefore, asked Google to clarify the same.