Google, Apple under scanner for unfair practices: CCI chief
Global tech giants Google and Apple are under the scanner of India’s competition watchdog for alleged unfair business practices, Competition Commission of India chairperson Ravneet Kaur said on Tuesday.
Kaur said an investigation is underway against Google for alleged abuse of its dominance in the news content space. The Competition Commission of India has started investigations against the search engine giant based on complaints filed by news publishers.
She said another US-based tech giant Apple is also under investigation. The iPhone-maker is under scanner for its alleged anti-competitive practices through its App Store.
"Once we receive the report from the DG, (and) CCI, we will take action,” Kaur told reporters. Director General (DG) is the investigation arm of the Competition Commission of India.
Last year, the CCI imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for its anti-competitive conduct in the Android ecosystem. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld the CCI order.
Kaur, who is the first woman to head India’s competition watchdog, said the CCI is trying to make rules that people can trust and make it easy for businesses to operate.
“We are also moving towards trust-based regulations. We are looking at settlements and commitments. Companies can come forward and make commitments so that markets can be corrected much quicker,” she said.
Referring to the misuse of data by the tech giants, Kaur said, “in the case of digital markets, they might not be charging for the services, but then when you look at their use of data there are lot of issues which come in terms of data concentration, self-preferencing and anti-steering provisions.”
She said the terms of the Digital Competition Law panel has been extended till October 31. The panel is headed by the Corporate Affairs secretary. CCI chairperson is a member of the panel. “Several meetings have happened. The draft is under consideration,” Kaur said.
Referring to the changes in Competition Act, Kaur said, “some have been notified, and some are in the process. They are meant to address the challenges we have faced in the recent past.”
“A very important change that will come through is deal value thresholds,” she added.
Kaur said the CCI is also concerned about competition related issues in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). “We are very much interested in that (impact of AI). We will soon do a market study so that we can understand the market better,” she said.
“We can look at the possibility of any anti-competitive practices, and if so, how they can be addressed, whether we can do any self-regulation, so that also is going to be looked at by the Commission,” she added.
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