Google is facing antitrust scrutiny in India for unfairly promoting its Google Pay app over competitors
by Hugh Langley, Business Insider US
- India’s antitrust body is said to be investigating whether Google abused its market position and unfairly promoted its mobile payments app.
- The complaint, filed in February, claims that Google promotes Google Pay in its Android app store in a way that hurts competitors and consumers.
- The case is still being reviewed. In the US, Google could face lawsuits later this year from ongoing antitrust probes.
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Google is facing a potential antitrust case in India over its mobile payments app, according to a new report from Reuters.
India’s antitrust body is said to be investigating whether Google abused its market position to unfairly promote its Google Pay app over competitors.
The complaint alleges that Google promotes Pay inside the Android app store in a way that puts competing mobile payment apps at a disadvantage.
According to the report, a complaint was filed in February but the Competition Commission of India kept the identity of the complainant confidential.
One of Reuters’ sources said that the case is currently being reviewed by senior members of the Commission, and could see Google brought before the watchdog to determine the next steps.
Google Pay had 67 million users in India as of last September, and competes with several other popular payment services including the Softbank-backed PayTM. However, the complaint reportedly also claims that Google is leveraging Android’s dominance in the country to push its payments app.
Google did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. The company also did not respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
Last year, the CCI began investigating whether Google was leveraging its dominance with Android to keep alternative operating systems out of the market.
But the complaint also arrives as Google is facing increasing antitrust scrutiny in the US. Both the Justice Department and a group of state attorneys general could hit Google with lawsuits this year, with the Justice Department potentially bringing its case as soon as this summer.