The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld the decision of the Competition Commission of India imposed on Google in the matter of penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore. A two-judge bench of NCLAT has ordered Google to deposit the amount within thirty days.
The bench rejected Google’s argument that the CCI order was against the principles of natural justice. However, the NCLAT bench comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Member Alok Shrivastava also done some modifications to the CCI order.
NCLAT said that CCI’s point about Google’s anti-competitive policies is correct, and the company will have to pay damages. But he rejected four out of ten anti-trust remedies, under which Google was asked to change its business model.
The CCI had said in October that Google had misused its position in Android and had asked for the removal of restrictions imposed on device makers, as well as restrictions.
However, while giving relief to Google, the court rejected the suggestion of CCI in which they were asked to include third party apps in the Play Store.
Google will now not need to allow hosting of third-party app stores inside Play Store, as had been previously ordered by the CCI.
On October 20 last year, the CCI slapped a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices in relation to Android mobile devices. The regulator also ordered the Internet major to cease and desist from various unfair business practices.
