According to two sources familiar with Google’s strategy, the US corporation is getting ready to file a petition with the Supreme Court of India in the coming days to challenge a decision made by the nation’s antitrust agency that will require it to alter the way it promotes its Android platform.
The Alphabet division was fined US$161 million (A$238 million) by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October for abusing its dominating position in the Android market, which powers 97 percent of smartphones in India, a major growth area for the US juggernaut.
Google has been concerned about the Indian decision, meanwhile, as the remedies mandated are viewed as being more extensive than the European Commission’s historic 2018 judgement for placing unlawful limitations on manufacturers of Android mobile devices.
Google has contested the case’s record US$4.3 billion fine.
As the time for the antitrust watchdog to adopt changes to its methodology on January 19 approaches, Google is preparing to file a legal challenge before the Supreme Court of India in the coming days, according to the first source with direct knowledge.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by a Google spokesman.
The Supreme Court’s action will follow Google’s loss on Wednesday when a court denied its request to overturn the antitrust decision.
The company said that following CCI’s instructions would harm both its long-standing business model and the interests of its customers.
The CCI ruled in October that the pre-installation of Google search services, the Chrome browser, YouTube, or any other Google applications “must not be associated with the licencing of Google’s Play Store.”
Separately, according to Reuters, Google has claimed in its filings that the CCI’s investigation section plagiarised portions of a European 2018 judgement against the US company.
These accusations have received no response from the CCI or the European Commission.