Indian The Competition Commission (CCI) on Thursday ordered an investigation against Google and its partners for allegedly adopting unfair trade practices in the context of listing on Play Store of apps related to earning money by playing 'games'. Passing its order, the Commission said that the Director General is directed to investigate the matter under the provisions of Section 26(1) of the Act. The commission also directed the Director General to complete the investigation within 60 days and submit a report.
CCI orders investigation on Winzo Games' complaint
Along with this, CCI has clarified that its observations in the order are prima facie and are not its final decision. This order of CCI has come on the complaint of Winzo Games. The gaming app has accused Google of abusing its dominant position and giving undue importance to select gaming categories, saying that this is hampering competition in the gaming sector. The Commission, in its order, said that selectively placing DFS and Rummy apps on the Play Store gives them an unfair competitive edge.
How Google is harming gaming apps
“Having direct access to end users through the Play Store provides DFS and Rummy apps with a significant advantage that potentially puts other revenue gaming apps at a disadvantage,” the Commission said. CCI also expressed concern over Google's sideloading warnings displayed when users tried to download the RMG app. Winzo says these warnings tarnish its image and discourage potential users from accessing its app.
Users can download the app from Play Store only
The regulator said in the order that Google's dominance in the Android ecosystem makes it mandatory to assess its policies for anti-competitive findings. Play Store is already installed in all phones running Android, the mobile operating system developed by Google. Only through this the user can download any app. The Commission said that excluding monetized gaming apps other than DFS and Rummy from the Play Store is tantamount to denying them market access.
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