NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by tech giant Google against an order by National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) related to its android platform.
The apex court has asked Goggle to deposit 10% Rs 1,338 crore fine imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for practicing anti-competitive Android mobile phone system within 7 days.
It has also asked NCLAT to decide Google's appeal against CCI order by March 31.
Further, the SC held that NCLAT was correct in not granting interim stay of CCI order, as the same cannot be said to be without jurisdiction or evidence.
The CCI fined Alphabet Inc-owned Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in Android, which powers 97% of smartphones in India, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.
Google challenged the directive in the Supreme Court saying it would hurt consumers and also its business, warning the growth of the Android ecosystem could stall.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, which included the chief justice of India, extended the implementation date of CCI's directives by a week beyond January 19, but declined to block the ruling despite Google's repeated requests.
After CCI order, Google has repeatedly voiced its concern as the remedies ordered are seen as more sweeping than the European Commission’s landmark 2018 ruling for imposing unlawful restrictions on Android mobile device makers. Google has challenged the record $4.3 billion fine in that case.
Google also said in its India filings that "no other jurisdiction has ever asked for such far-reaching changes".
(With inputs from agencies)
