NCLAT declines stay on CCI’s Rs 936 cr Google penalty, asks firm to pay 10%

National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has declined to stay the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI’s) Rs 936.44 crore penalty on Google for its Play Store policies, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday. The tech giant had asked the tribunal to block CCI’s order to allow apps to use third-party payment apps for two months.

NCLAT has also directed Google to deposit 10 per cent of the penalty by CCI. It will hear the appeal against the fine on April 17.

CCI had earlier said that Google resorts to “differential treatment” for Indian customers. The Supreme Court will hear the case on January 16.

In the Supreme Court, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha took note of the submissions of senior advocate AM Singhvi, appearing for the US firm, and said that it would list the plea for hearing on January 16.

The senior lawyer said that the CCI had passed extraordinary directions and the order has to be complied with by January 19.

“There is no finding of abuse of dominance,” he said.

The NCLAT, on January 4, had refused an interim stay on an order of the competition regulator imposing a Rs 1,337 crore penalty on Google and had asked it to deposit 10 per cent of the amount.

The NCLAT admitted the search giant’s challenge to the CCI, slapping a Rs 1,337.76 crore fine for abusing the dominant position of its Android smartphone operating system in the country.

In October last year, the CCI asked Google to allow smartphone users on the Android platform to uninstall apps and let them select a search engine of their choice.

That order was to become effective from January 19.

CCI in October fined the Alphabet Inc unit $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in the market for Android, which powers 97 per cent of smartphones in India and is a key growth region for the US giant.

The challenge comes after Google suffered a setback on Wednesday when an appeals tribunal rejected its request to block the antitrust ruling. The company argued that implementing the CCI’s directives would hurt its long-standing business model and consumer interests.

Supreme Court records show Google filed a challenge against the tribunal ruling on Saturday. A hearing date is yet to be fixed.

(With agency inputs)