The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a fine on tech giant Google. In this context, discuss the role of CCI. Also, compare CCI’s actions with the US and EU regulators to curb monopolistic behaviors.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore ($162 million) on Google for abusing its market dominant position in multiple categories related to the Android mobile device ecosystem in the country.

Competition commission of India:

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) constituted in March 2009, is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002.
• The Commission is a quasi-judicial body consisting of one chairperson and six members appointed by the Central Government.

Role played by CCI:

• Eliminate practices having adverse effects on competition.
• Promote and sustain competition.
• Protect the interests of consumers.
• Ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.

What’s the issue:

• Investigation was ordered by CCI in 2019 following complaints by consumers of Android-based smartphones in the country.
• Google had mandated pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) by OEMs under Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (MADA), which could not be uninstalled.
• This action of Google amounted to imposition of unfair conditions on the device manufacturers and misusing its dominant position.

Similar actions in other countries:

• Penalties have been imposed on Google in other jurisdictions as well.
• In 2017, the European Commission had fined Google 2.42 billion euros for breaching the European Union’s antitrust rules.
• The European Court of Justice has also slapped a fine of more than 4 billion euros ($3.99 billion) on google.