CCI Imposes Rs 136.86 Cr Penalty on Google for 'Search Bias', Complainants Say it is Too Little

In a setback for Google, fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday fined the tech giant Rs 136.86 crore for abuse of its dominance and biased search practices in India.

“The Competition Commission of India has found Google to have abused its dominant position in online general web search and web search advertising services in India,” CCI said in a press release issued on Thursday. 

The CCI passed the order on complaints, filed in 2012, saying that the penalty was being imposed on the company for "infringing anti-trust conduct". “Google was found to be indulging in practices of search bias and by doing so, it was causing harm to its competitors as well as to its users,” the commission said in its order.

"Google, being the gateway to the internet for a vast majority of internet users, due to its dominance in the online web search market, is under an obligation to discharge its special responsibility," the fair trade regulator said. 

Meanwhile, a Google spokesperson said: "We have always focused on innovating to support the evolving needs of our users.

"The Competition Commission of India has confirmed that on the majority of issues it examined, our conduct complies with Indian competition laws. We are reviewing the narrow concerns identified by the Commission and will assess our next steps."

Google was accused of indulging in abuse of its dominant position in the Indian market for online search through practices leading to search bias and manipulation.

Google now has 60 days to deposit the fine, the commission said. According to the CCI order, the penalty amount is nearly five percent of Google's average total revenue in India for the financial years 2013, 2014 and 2015.

In 2012, cases were filed against Google by CUTS -a consumer organisation led by Pradeep Mehta, and Consim - a matrimonial website and Google AdWords customer.

In June 2012, the CCI asked its investigative arm to conduct an investigation into the matter and it submitted its preliminary report in August 2015. In September 2016, CCI shared with Google the evidence and analysis behind the preliminary report.

Two months later, Google submitted a written response and in January 2017, the company presented oral submissions at the CCI hearings.

However, the law firm which represented one of the complainants before the fair trade regulator said that Rs 135.86 crore fine is too little. 

"The penalty levied by the CCI, as a percentage of Google's turnover is welcome at five per cent. However, the actual amount, a mere Rs. 135.86 crores, is a surprise," said Naval Satarawala Chopra of Shardu lAmarchand Mangaldas & Co which represented Matrimony.com, a popular matrimonial website.

"In fact, the CCI has expressed dismay at the way in which Google provided its turnover figure which raises questions on its veracity," Chopra said.

CCI said it imposed the fine after taking into account Google's revenue from its India operations only.

"The CCI's order is a shot in the arm for the Digital India initiative and will encourage the Indian internet ecosystem, online start-ups in particular. This order is significant as the CCI recognises that Google is the gatekeeper to the internet and has a special responsibility to ensure a level playing field," Murugave l Janakiraman, Founder and CEO, Matrimony.com, told IANS.

"This order needs to be a wake-up call for all other players in the digital and mobile ecosystems who are using innovative methodologies to engage in abuse of dominant positions in marketplaces," said Pavan Duggal, a Supreme Court advocate and cyber law expert.

This is, however, not the first time Google was fined for abuse of its dominance in the search engine market.

In June 2017, the European Union slapped the technology giant with a record fine of 2.42 billion euros for breaching antitrust rules by abusing the monopoly it enjoys over Internet search.

"Google has abused its market dominance as a search engine by giving an illegal advantage to another Google product, its comparison shopping service," the European Commission said in a statement issued at the time of announcing its order.