Google pays Rs 1,338-crore fine to CCI in Android case

In the first case of a Big Tech giant paying a heavy penalty to the Indian regulators as the government aims to bring in an inclusive Digital India Act (DIA), Google has paid the entire penalty amount of Rs 1,337.76 crore imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in the Android case. The regulator had imposed the penalty on Google in October 2022 for allegedly exploiting its dominant position in the Android market.

Dr Ritesh Malik, Director, Alliance for Digital India Foundation (ADIF), who has been at the forefront of helping Indian startups fight against the global Internet giants, said Big Tech firms started taking the fines/penalties as ‘cost of doing business’ and prefer to pay the same rather than making the ecosystem more fair and non-discriminative.