[Google Play Store Rules] Don’t want two rounds of litigation, will hear case finally: CCI to Karnataka High Court

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Wednesday told the Karnataka High Court that it would rather hear the case regarding Google Play Store rules finally, instead of taking on two rounds of litigation [Google India Pvt. Ltd. vs. Competition Commission of India]..With this submission, the Commission requested the High Court to close the petition filed by Google against its order seeking a response to information filed by certain startups and app developers assailing the latest Google Play Store policy..Additional Solicitor General (ASG) N Venkataraman, appearing for the CCI, submitted that the Director General (DG) sought an extension of 60 days to conclude its investigation, and in all likelihood would conclude the same within the stipulated time.“The Commission thought if investigation will be concluded within 60 days, then what is today under consideration is Respondent No. 2’s interim obligation. We would rather take the final hearing itself, instead of two rounds of litigation,” the ASG said..He thus suggested that the petition may be closed, subject to two assurances from Google - firstly, that the company would extend its cooperation to the DG investigation, and secondly, that it would not advance the date of the Google Play Store billing system release..Senior Advocates Gopal Subramanium and Sajan Poovayya, who represented Google, unequivocally appreciated the stand taken by the CCI and assured the Court that both conditions were already being complied with.“The Google Play billing system, which is the subject matter of the interim relief application, will not be brought into effect till 31 October 2022. That position is resolute. On the question of cooperating with the Commission, we have actually cooperated and we will cooperate. My learned friend is right; if the inquiry is going to proceed, this interim relief application is entirely unnecessary. I appreciate the stand taken,” said Subramanium..Advocate Abir Roy, appearing for the Alliance of Digital India Foundation, however, stressed that his client's right to re-file for interim relief would not be foreclosed by this decision..After hearing the arguments, Justice Krishna Dixit sought a memorandum from counsel representing all the parties, in order to iron out the details. The Court granted time till Monday to all parties to submit a joint memo..Last year, Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), a think tank for India's digital startups, filed information with the CCI that Google was abusing its dominant position in the UPI payments market. In its order, the Commission had expressed concern over the pre-installation and prominence of Google Pay on Android smartphones. The CCI directed its investigation wing to examine whether Google's conduct of mandating use of its payments system was anti-competitive. ADIF later filed additional information containing the names of the startups that were affected by Google's alleged abuse of dominance in the market. The CCI then directed ADIF to redact the names of the startups before sending a copy of the information to Google. It later turned down Google's request for disclosure of the names and sought a response from the company by December 31..Aggrieved by this order, the tech giant approached the Karnataka High Court. In its plea, Google argued that the application shared with the company did not contain complete information and contained redactions over names and identities of app-developers and start-ups, which prevented it from making a case..On the last date of hearing, CCI told the Karnataka High Court that it will not act against Google in the probe initiated by the competition watchdog till the next hearing on January 5..Play Store rules: CCI assures Karnataka High Court no action against Google till next hearing