NEW DELHI: India’s anti-trust watchdog has fined Google more than $160 million after a probe found the tech behemoth was abusing its commanding position in the local smart phone market.

The California-based company’s Android mobile operating system is by far the dominant player in India and is run on 95 percent of all the country’s smart phones, according to research agency Counterpoint.

But the Competition Commission of India (CCI) said the operating system was configured to unlawfully crowd out rivals to YouTube, web browser Chrome and other popular Google apps.

Android had a suite of Google apps pre-installed on its phones, including the company’s own search engine, “which accorded significant competitive edge to Google’s search services over its competitors”, a CCI statement said late on Thursday.

“Markets should be allowed to compete on merit and the onus is on (Google) that its conduct does not impinge this competition on merit,” it added.

The commission levied a fine of 13.4 billion rupees ($162m) and instructed the company to allow Android users to remove pre-installed Google apps.

It also told Google not to enter into any agreement with smart phone makers that would encourage them to only sell Android-based devices or exclusively use its software.

The company said it would review the decision and weigh its next moves.

“The CCI’s decision is a major setback for Indian consumers and businesses, opening serious security risks for Indians... and raising the cost of mobile devices,” a spokesperson said.

Google faced a similar anti-trust ruling in the European Union that found the company had imposed “unlawful restrictions” on smart phone makers to benefit its search engine.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2022