Google asks India’s top court to quash Android antitrust directives: sources
- In October, the Competition Commission of India ordered Google to remove restrictions imposed on device makers and fined the firm US$163 million
- Google confirmed the Supreme Court filing, saying that it looked forward to presenting its case and showing how Android benefited users and developers
Google has urged India’s Supreme Court to quash antitrust directives against it for abuse of the Android market, two sources said, as it presses its legal battle against the competition watchdog in one of its most important markets.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in October that Google, whose Android mobile operating system powers 97 per cent of the 600 million smartphones in India, had exploited its dominant position.
It ordered Google to remove restrictions imposed on device makers, including those related to the pre-installation of apps, and fined the US firm US$163 million, which it paid.
In March, an Indian tribunal gave partial relief to the Alphabet unit by setting aside four of the 10 directives in the case.
The tribunal said CCI’s findings of Google’s anticompetitive conduct were correct, but gave Google some relief by quashing some of the directives that forced it to alter its business model.
Google is now asking the Supreme Court to quash the remainder of the directives, the first source with direct knowledge said.