news/GOOG/2023.01.03/Google alleges India antitrust body copied parts of EU order on Android abuse.txt

(Repeats story published earlier. No change to text.)*India antitrust rulings latest setback for Google in key
market*Google wants Indian antitrust decisions to be quashed*Indian watchdog copied parts of EU order, Google alleges*Google says its conduct is not anti-competitive - filingNEW DELHI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Google has told a tribunal
in India that the country's antitrust investigators copied parts
of a European ruling against the U.S. firm for abusing the
market dominance of its Android operating system, arguing the
decision be quashed, legal papers show.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined
Alphabet Inc's Google $161 million for exploiting its
dominant position in markets such as online search and the
Android app store, and asked it to change restrictions imposed
on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.Sources told Reuters in October that Google was worried
about the Indian decision as the remedies ordered were seen as
more sweeping than the European Commission's landmark 2018
ruling for imposing unlawful restrictions on Android mobile
device makers. Google has challenged a record 4.1-billion-euro
($4.3 billion) fine in that case.In its filing to an Indian appeals tribunal, Google argues
the CCI's investigation unit "copy-pasted extensively from a
European Commission decision, deploying evidence from Europe
that was not examined in India"."There are more than 50 instances of copypasting", in some
cases "word-for-word", and the watchdog erroneously dismissed
the issue, Google said in its filing which is not public but has
been reviewed by Reuters."The Commission failed to conduct an impartial, balanced,
and legally sound investigation ... Google's mobile app
distribution practices are pro-competitive and not unfair/
exclusionary."Spokespeople for the CCI and European Commission did not
immediately respond to requests for comment.Google said in a statement it decided to appeal the CCI's
decision as it believes "it presents a major setback for
our Indian users and businesses". It did not comment on the
copy-pasting allegations in its filing.Google has asked the tribunal to quash the CCI's order, and
the case will be heard on Wednesday.The Indian competition ruling came as Google faces increased
antitrust scrutiny the world over. Google licenses its Android
system to smartphone makers, but critics say it imposes
restrictions that are anti-competitive.The U.S. firm says Android has created more choice for
everyone and such agreements help keep the operating system
free. In Europe, 75% of 550 million smartphones run on Android,
compared with 97% of 600 million devices in India, Counterpoint
Research estimates.The CCI ruled in October that Google's licensing of its Play
Store "shall not be linked with the requirement of
pre-installing" Google search services, the Chrome browser,
YouTube or any other Google applications.In its appeal, Google alleges the CCI only found antitrust
infringements related to the Google search app, Chrome browser
and YouTube, but its order "extends beyond" that.Separately, Google has also appealed against another Indian
antitrust decision where it was fined $113 million for
restricting the use of third-party billing or payment processing
services in India. The appeal is yet to be heard.($1 = 0.9493 euros)
(Reporting by Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil; Additional
reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Mark Potter)