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In India, the multinational company Google has just been sentenced to pay a hefty fine of 165 million euros for abusing its dominant position. The new tech giant, which enjoys a virtual monopoly on mobile services, has been penalized for preventing any competition from appearing on its Android operating system.
With our correspondent in India, Sebastian Farcis
India’s competition commission has sanctioned Google over a series of practices aimed at excluding all competition. Therefore, the company requires phone manufacturers to pre-install its search engine, as well as YouTube and Chrome, if they want to benefit from licensing its Android operating system. App makers are also almost forced to open the Google Play Store if they want their software to work on these phones.
However, Android is used by 95% of smartphone users in India, which puts Google in a position to crush any competitor.
Therefore, the Indian authorities imposed a temporary fine of 165 million euros, and required Google to change its practices within 30 days, otherwise the sanctions could be increased. It is the second time in four years that an American company has been convicted in India, and other investigations are underway to stifle competition over Google’s payment system, or so-called smart television.
Read also: United States: new complaint against Google over abuse of dominant position
