Play Store rules: CCI assures no action till next date, HC adjourns Google plea

The High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday adjourned the petition filed by Google India Private Limited in the matter of the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) probe into Play Store rules. The matter was posted to January 5, 2022.

The CCI has passed an order on December 14, 2021 on a complaint regarding Google Play store payments policy 2020 seeking response of Google by December 31, 2021.

Vacation bench of Justice B M Shyam Prasad heard the arguments of senior advocates Gopal Subramanium and Sajan Poovayya representing Google. Gopal Subramanium said that the CCI had not disclosed the identity of the app developers/start-ups which provided certain evidence and information in the complaint. He further said that the deadline for Indian developers to comply with the Google Play Billing Clarifications has already been extended until October 31, 2022.

Appearing for CCI, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) N Venkataraman said that all information has been provided except the names of the informants. Venkataraman further said that as part of gentleman’s agreement, he would orally assure the court that no precipitative action will be taken till the next date of hearing, in pursuance of the order passed by the CCI on December 14, 2021. Considering the submission made by the ASG, Justice B M Shyam Prasad posted the matter to January 5, 2022.

It could be recalled that on November 9, 2020, based on an anonymous complaint filed on February 20, 2020, CIC directed the director general to initiate an investigation. The investigation was to determine whether Google anti-competitively requires developers distributing their apps through the Play Store to use Google Play’s billing system and to pay on the sale of digital goods as a service fee.

Indian startups have been raising concerns around Google’s Play billing system, saying the tech giant cannot force Indian app developers to sell digital services by compulsorily using its billing system. On its part Google has maintained that its payments policy is not new and it has always required developers who distribute their apps on Play Store to use Google Play’s billing system if they offer in-app purchases of digital goods.

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