By Rakesh Deshmukh, Co-founder , CEO, Indus OS
In a major setback to Google, on January 04th, 2023 the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal refused to grant interim protection to Google with respect to CCI’s directions to cease and desist, in its appeal challenging the CCI order against the tech giant on 20th October 2022. NCLAT has also permitted Indus OS, MapmyIndia, and Alliance of Digital India Foundation, being aggrieved by the anti-competitive actions of Google, to physically file their impleadment applications before NLCAT.
Google was pressing for interim protection on 2 fronts; One against the penalty of INR 1337.76 Crores imposed by CCI and also against the direction issued by CCI to cease and desist from indulging in anti-competitive practices that have been found against Google. The tech giant has been directed by CCI to implement necessary changes in its practices and file a compliance report within 03 months of its order.
The CCI’s order for fair and competitive practices in the mobile industry lends a great deal of confidence to all the stakeholders. It is a shot in the arm for many companies in the ecosystem that have been affected adversely due to the monopolistic policies of Google, as they can now compete and build better products customized for India.
We at Indus OS have been patiently waiting and consistently fighting for this day for over a decade now. As an app store, we are delighted by the CCI decision to stop Google from restricting OEMs from partnering with other companies like IndusOS to distribute alternate app stores in India, thus providing Indian consumers with the freedom of choice to choose an app store of their liking on their own mobile phones.
This is only the beginning and our endeavor to create a level playing field for alternate app stores and bring competitive and Indian customized products for our users will continue with the same fervor and zeal as before.