Indian Court Refuses Google Interim Relief in App Store Dispute

An Indian appeals court has denied Alphabet Inc.'s Google any immediate relief from a 9.36 billion rupee ($115 million) fine for abusing its dominant market position.

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The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal has directed the US tech giant to deposit 10% of the penalty in four weeks. The penalty was slapped by the Competition Commission of India after hearing a case related to its Play Store policies. The next hearing will take place on April 17.

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The CCI said in October that the company’s policies forced developers to use Google Play’s billing system to list their apps on its Play Store, and asked the firm to take corrective steps. Earlier, the regulator had imposed another penalty of $162 million saying that Google had strengthened its market position through moves it deemed anti-competitive. It directed the company to change several of its practices. The appeals tribunal refused an immediate relief in the Android case, prompting Google to appeal in the Supreme Court.

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Google did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

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Google's legal battles in India are just the latest in a series of cases against the company in several countries. In September, a European court upheld a record 4.1 billion euro ($4.4 billion) antitrust fine against Google over its Android mobile operating system. In April, the company lost its fight to overturn a French penalty of 150 million euros for mistreating companies using its online advertising platform. And last year, Russia's antitrust agency found that Google's YouTube violated legislation by blocking and suspending accounts and content.

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On Wednesday, the company's lawyer stressed the importance of maintaining the status quo until the case is fully heard. The opposing side, the commission, said that Google has already complied with similar directions in other jurisdictions.