Google India relieved by CCI of allegation of unfairly granting TrueCaller access to non-public contact

Recently, Google India received relief from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in a case of alleged favoritism towards caller ID app Truecaller.

The complaint, filed by Rachna Khaira in 2023, claimed that Google gave Truecaller exclusive access to users’ contact information, unfairly benefiting the app in the caller ID business.

Khaira demanded equal treatment for all apps and a fine for Google’s alleged unfair practices.

After a thorough review, the CCI issued a judgment on June 24 stating that the allegations against Google were unfounded. This decision was based on the lack of evidence supporting Khaira’s claims.

The commission found no violation of Article 4 of the Competition Act and rejected Khaira’s request for relief.

Google India responded to the allegations by stating that its business agreements with Truecaller did not have any special provisions relating to sharing of non-public or private contacts.

Google India highlighted that the complaint was based on misconceptions about Truecaller’s privacy practices and clarified that the app strictly requires user permission to access contact information and does not collect or share any information contact of the user without consent.