NCLAT refuses interim relief to Google

New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Wednesday declined to grant interim relief to Google seeking a stay on competition watchdog CCI's penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on the tech giant for abusing its dominant position with respect to Play Store policies.

The appellate tribunal has directed Google to deposit 10 per cent of the fine before its registry in the next four weeks.

A two-member bench comprising Justice Rakesh Kumar and Alok Srivastava issued notices to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and other respondents and posted the matter for hearing on April 17, 2023. Last week, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) also declined to stay another CCI order, in which it had slapped a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for anti-competitive practices in relation to Android mobile devices. Google was fined over Rs 2,200 crore in two CCI rulings less than a week apart in October, marking a setback for the tech titan in one of the most promising digital markets globally. On October 25, CCI had slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The regulator has also directed the company to cease and desist from unfair business practices as well as carry out various measures to address the anti-competitive issues within a defined timeline.

Google had subsequently said it is "pausing" enforcement of the requirement for developers to use Play's billing system for the purchase of digital goods and services for transactions by users in India while it reviews legal options, in the aftermath of the recent ruling by the CCI.

"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 an update on help centre page on November 1.

SC to hear Google plea against NCLAT order

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear a plea of US tech giant Google against an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) refusing an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on it . A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha took note of the submissions of senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the US firm, and said that it will list the plea for hearing on Monday. The senior lawyer said that extraordinary directions have been passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and the order has to be complied by January 19.