CCI Agrees On Settlement Proposal of Google Regarding Android TV Case

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has given its approval to the settlement offer of Google in the Android TV case.

The case started when two individuals, Mr. Kshitiz Arya and Mr. Purushottam Anand filed a complaint against Google LLC, Google India Private Limited, Xiaomi Technology India Private Limited and TCL India Holding Private Limited under Section 19(1)(a) of the Act, 2002 accusing them of violating several rules of the Act.

The Commission initially believed that Google violated several provisions of Sections 3(4) and 4 and ordered an investigation to be conducted under Section 26(1) of the Act.

The Investigation revealed that Google had too much control over the market of ‘licensable Smart TV device operating system in India‘. Because of this, it misused its position by implementing restrictive agreements on OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). It forced the manufacturers to include the Play Store with Android TV OS. It also stopped them from creating or using competitive Android versions by using its Anti-Fragmentation agreements. These restrictions affected other companies as they found it harder to compete, which stopped them from being innovative.

Google submitted a settlement Application under Section 48A of the Act. The commission invited suggestions from 45 parties on the settlement proposal. It agreed to the proposal for the settlement in terms of Section 48A (3) of the Act. The final Settlement amount is Rs. 20.24 crore, after getting a 15% discount on the original amount.