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The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court against the “inaction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to expeditiously hear and decide” on the interim relief application filed by it against Google in the user choice billing system case.
ADIF told Delhi HC that ‘there will be a cascading effect of harm to the market and it will not be able to recoup the competitive loss at the hands of Google if the CCI does not decide on its plea.
“The pleadings in the matter are complete in July 2023, and despite repeated requests for expeditious adjudication on the contravention and interim relief application, there are no oral hearings conducted and the urgency applications are being disposed of, keeping the matter pending. The delay is for more than 7 months,” the ADIF plea said.
ADIF, which represents a group of digital start-ups, had filed a petition before the Delhi HC in April 2023 to suspend Google's new in-app billing fee system, called the User Choice Billing (UCB) until the CCI investigates the company for alleged non-compliance with its directives.
The ADIF had alleged that despite the regulator’s directive asking the tech giant to allow the use of third-party billing services for in-app payments, the UCB system charges a high service fee.
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Google was to implement the UCB from April 26, 2023.
It has now given a deadline of March 13, 2024 for app developers to integrate UCB-related API in the apps listed on the Google Play Store.
ADIF said that after the unequivocal CCI order of October 25, 2022, contending that Google is abusing its dominant position through its payment policy, the CCI passed remedial directions.
However, ADIF said it was ‘shocked to see that instead of following the CCI order in letter and spirit, Google immediately started rolling out policies that were in the teeth of the CCI Order.’
ADIF said that Google continues to violate each of the remedy measures by CCI, ‘which is not only contemptuous but also has a distortionary effect on the entire app developers market’.
ADIF said it is a pressing issue for the entire start-up community in India and thus, requires urgent intervention to prevent market distortion.
“It would be relevant to note that currently, more than 80 per cent of transactions are non-GPBS. Through UCB, Google is trying to harp all the non-GPBS transactions for its benefit, and imposing exorbitant commissions without any justification to defeat the purpose of providing alternative payment mechanisms, which smacks of anti-competitive behaviour,” the plea said.
The CCI, in October 2022, imposed a penalty of Rs 936 crore on Google and asked it to allow and not restrict app developers from using any third-party billing services and not be treated discriminately.
The appeal by Google against this decision is pending in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.
