Google seeks settlement in Smart TV antitrust case

SUMMARY

A recent report submitted by the antitrust regulator’s investigative arm found that Google violated laws and abused its dominant position in the smart TV market.

With this, Google became the first company to invoke the new settlement system.

The system offers a 15% reduction on the basic penalty determined by the CCI for companies found guilty of anti-competitive behavior.

Google has reportedly offered to settle an antitrust case after the Competition Commission of India (CCI) found its deals with smart TV makers violated Indian competition law.

A recent report submitted by the antitrust regulator’s investigative arm found that Google violated laws and abused its dominant position in the smart TV market, Mint reported.

Following this, Google filed a settlement application, which is currently under review by the CCI, the report said.

Google thus becomes the first company to invoke the new payment system. The system offers a 15% reduction on the basic penalty determined by the CCI for companies found guilty of anti-competitive behavior.

A mail sent to Google seeking a response on the latest development did not elicit any response till the time of publishing this story.

It is relevant to note that the The CCI has started investigating Google in 2021 after receiving complaints from two people about the tech giant abusing its dominance in the Android smart TV market.

The plaintiffs said Google imposed unfair conditions on smart TV manufacturersrequiring them to pre-install a full suite of Google apps if they want to include a specific app like YouTube.

The CCI found Google prima facie guilty of violating competition law.

It is relevant to note that in 2022, the CCI fined Google a total of INR 2,274 Cr in two separate antitrust cases.

Besides Google, several other major technology companies are also under the control of the ICC.

Recently, Amazon and Flipkart were found guilty of violating competition laws by giving preference to certain sellers on their online shopping sites.

American tech giant Apple was also reportedly found guilty of abuse of dominant position on the App Store market. The CCI report accuses Apple of imposing unfair trade practices on developers.

However, the report was later recalled after Apple expressed concerns that CCI was leaking confidential company data to competitors.

These tech giants or their associated vendors have approached the judiciary seeking respite from the CCI rulings.

For example, three Flipkart sellers approached the Karnataka High Court last month, seeking to put an end to the ongoing investigation by the CCI involving them. The same month, former Amazon seller Appario also moved the Karnataka HC seeking to quash the CCI investigation against Amazon.

Faced with an increase in allegations of embezzlement, the Ministry of General Affairs introduced the digital competition bill to repress their alleged anti-competitive practices.

The bill aims to regulate large entities based on their turnover, gross merchandise value, global market capitalization, number of users and other factors.