New Delhi: Technology major Google on Monday settled with the Competition Commission a nearly four-year-old case related to alleged unfair business practices with respect to Android Smart TV market by agreeing to modify its agreement with Original Equipment Manufacturers and by paying Rs 20.24 crore as the settlement amount.
This is the first case that has been settled under the amended Competition Act, wherein the settlement and commitment provisions were introduced in 2023.
In the nearly four-year-old case, Google proposed settlement, including a modified agreement with the vendors that would address anti-competitive concerns and also paid a settlement amount of Rs 20.24 crore after a settlement discount of 15 per cent.
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The settlement order on Monday also came at a time when US Vice President J D Vance started his four-day India visit. Also, India is hoping to reach an agreement with the US within the 90-day pause on steep tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.
“The Commission considered the settlement proposal and observed that under the ‘New India Agreement’, Google will provide a standalone licence for the Play Store and Play Services for Android smart TVs in India, thereby removing the requirement to bundle these services or impose default placement conditions.
“Additionally, by waiving the need for a valid Android Compatibility Commitments (ACC) for devices shipped into India that do not include Google apps, OEMs can now sell and develop incompatible Android devices without violating the Television App Distribution Agreement (TADA),” the regulator said in a release on Monday.
Besides, as part of the settlement, Google has paid Rs 20.24 crore as settlement amount.
The regulator also directed Google to implement the terms of the settlement for a period of five years and submit annual compliance reports by April 15 each year, covering the period up to March 31st of that year.
The CCI said, “If the Settlement Applicant fails to comply with the order passed by the Commission or it comes to the notice of the Commission that the Settlement Applicant has not made full and true disclosure during the settlement proceedings or there has been a material change in the facts, the order passed under section 48 A (3) of the Act shall stand revoked and withdrawn”.
The 28-page majority order approving the settlement was passed by CCI Chairperson Ravneet Kaur and two members — Sweta Kakkad and Deepak Anurag — while another member Anil Agarwal passed a dissent order.
Earlier also, Google had come under the scanner of CCI where the latter passed orders with respect to Android OS and Play Store billing matters. Two more cases against Google — one related to digital news publshers/adtech and another on alleged excessive Play Store billing — are currently being probed by the regulator.
In June 2021, CCI had ordered a detailed investigation into the case after concluding that there was prima facie evidence of competition law violations.
The probe by the regulator’s investigation arm Director General (DG) concluded that Android Smart TV OS has a dominant position in the relevant market of ‘licensable Smart TV device operating system in India’ and Google Play Store is in a dominant position in the ‘Market for App Store for Android Smart TV OS in India’.
“It found that Google’s agreements — TADA and ACC — executed together, imposed unfair terms by requiring the pre-installation of its full app bundle Google TV Services, preventing OEMs from developing or using Android forks, and hindering innovation,” CCI said.
Citing the DG’s findings, the watchdog noted that these agreements extended across entire device portfolios and included the tying of services like YouTube with the Play Store, strengthening Google’s market dominance and breaching several provisions of Section 4 of the Act.
The allegation of refusal to deal and exclusive supply under Section 3(4) was not substantiated, the release said.
Section 3 pertains to anti-competitive agreements and Section 4 relates to abuse of dominant position.
In the dissent order, Anil Agarwal said that as a settlement proposal, Google has proposed to offer a New India Agreement for OEMs distributing devices in India and the company will continue to offer TADA in addition to the New India Agreement.
“Under the proposed new arrangement, unique to India, OEMs have the option to either pay for the New India Agreement licence or continue with the free bundled applications under TADA. 90. The settlement proposal does not eliminate existing arrangements under TADA which have been prima facie found to be contravening the provisions of the Act,” Agarwal said in his 16-page order.
It was alleged that Google misused its dominant position by enforcing restrictive agreements on OEMs, including compulsory bundling of the Play Store with Android TV OS and preventing the use or creation of rival forked Android versions through its Anti-Fragmentation Agreements.
These practices allegedly blocked market access, curbed competition, and placed unrelated obligations on OEMs, ultimately stifling innovation and violating provisions of Section 4 of the Act.
CCI started looking into the matter following a complaint filed by two individuals against Google LLC, Google India Pvt Ltd, Xiaomi Technology India Pvt Ltd and TCL India Holding Pvt Ltd.
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