Google Antitrust Compliance Review Shifts To India

Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, has joined a group of Indian startups requesting that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) investigate Google’s  User Choice Billing system.

The CCI is the regulatory body that last year barred Google from requiring OEMs to bundle first-party Google apps and services with Android, reports Engadget. T

he order also mandates that Google must support third-party billing options.

Match Group argues in the complaint made with the Alliance of Digital India Foundation that Google’s User Choice Billing system still imposes high service fees between 11% and 26% on app developers. The cost infers that Google has not complied, according to the foundation.

Reuters reported that the order is not public, and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The CCI imposed a $113 million fine on Google in October and said it must allow the use of third-party billing and stop forcing developers to use its in-app payment system that charges commission of 15% to 30%.

South Korea made a similar request of Google in 2021. Then in 2022, Match Group reached a temporary compromise with Google when the company withdrew its request for a temporary restraining order against Google after accusing it of unfair monopoly power in its mobile app marketplace.

At the time, the concessions guaranteed that Match Group apps can offer users choice in payment systems, reducing the undue burden on developers by its previously stated policy, and eliminating Google's complete control of user data.

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