The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has been ordered by the Delhi High Court to hear the complaint made by startups and app developers against Google’s new in-app pricing strategy. The day Google’s new policy goes into effect on April 26 is when the court has requested the CCI to make a decision regarding the pleas.
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The Delhi High Court received a complaint from the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (AIDF), which accused Google of flagrantly violating earlier CCI judgments. AIDF said that even when an alternative billing plan is offered, Google charges a fee of 11–26%.
An earlier CCI order holding that Google may not impose unfair, unreasonable constraints on app developers is being sought to be enforced by ADIF. This order is considered broken by the new in-app billing policy.
According to the AIDF, Google’s new policy is discriminatory and anti-competitive, and it would harm the interests of Indian start-ups and app developers. The new rule will compel app makers to adopt Google’s in-app charging system and compensate Google with a commission on any sales generated by the system.
Google is allegedly exploiting its market dominance and influence to impose arbitrary and unreasonable requirements on app developers, according to the AIDF. The AIDF has requested that the CCI take action against Google and ensure its new policy doesn’t go against the ideas of fair competition.