Wednesday, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal denied Google’s request for a stay of the competition watchdog CCI’s Rs 936.44 crore fine against the tech giant for abusing its dominant position with regard to Play Store policies.

The appellate court has ordered Google to submit 10% of the fine to the registry within four weeks.

A two-member bench consisting of Justices Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava issued notices to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and other respondents and set the hearing date for April 17, 2023.

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) declined to stay a second CCI order last week, in which Google was fined Rs 1,337.76 crore for anti-competitive practises in relation to Android mobile devices.

Google was fined over Rs 2,200 crore in two CCI rulings issued within a week of one another in October, representing a setback for the tech giant in one of the most promising digital markets.

Google was fined Rs 936.44 crore by the CCI on October 25 for abusing its dominant position in regards to the policies of its Play Store.

In addition, the regulator has ordered the company to cease and desist from engaging in unfair business practises and to take various anti-competitive measures within a specified time frame.

In response to the recent ruling by the CCI, Google stated that it is “pausing” enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services by users in India while it reviews its legal options.

“Following the CCI’s recent ruling, we are pausing enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Google Play’s billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while we review our legal options and ensure we can continue to invest in Android and Play,” Google said in a November 1 update on the help centre page.
Globally, the search engine giant has been criticised for mandating that software developers using its app store use only its proprietary in-app payment system, which charges up to a 30% commission on in-app purchases.

Google faces a separate investigation into its business practises in India’s news content and Smart TV markets.

In addition, the Competition Commission imposed a Rs 1,337.76 crore fine on the tech giant for anti-competitive practises regarding Android mobile devices.
In October, Google filed appeals with the NCLAT in response to the two orders issued by the CCI.

On January 4, while hearing the appeal in the Android case, the appellate tribunal denied a temporary stay on the competition regulator’s imposition of a Rs 1,337-crore fine and ordered the American tech giant to deposit 10% of the amount.

NCLAT accepted the search giant’s challenge to the CCI’s decision to impose a Rs 1,337.76-crore fine for abusing the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system in India.