Google's troubles increased, fine of Rs 216.69 crore imposed in Play Store abuse case by NCLAT

Google has once again hit a roadblock in its case over Play Store policies. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has directed the deletion of the parts in its last month's ruling that had confidential income details of Google. The direction is in respect to the document that Google had filed with the tribunal on 6 October 2022 and in which the revenue details of the company had been included.

Earlier, on the 28th of March, the NCLAT supported the ruling of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that Google's Play Store billing policy is unduly restrictive and unfair to developers. The tribunal, however, lessened the fine from Rs 936.44 crore to Rs 216.69 crore.

Google and its parent company, Alphabet Inc. had requested the tribunal to remove paragraphs 97 to 100 of the judgment as they contained information taken from confidential documents. This letter was also considered confidential by the CCI, but the tribunal mentioned it in its decision.

Accepting Google's appeal, a bench of NCLAT Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and member Barun Mitra said, "We find solid grounds in this request. Therefore, paragraphs 97 to 100 are directed to be removed from the website and certified copies of the order."

Now only the redacted copy of this decision will be made public and the same will be uploaded on the website.

Although NCLAT has given some relief to Google and reduced the total fine to Rs 216.69 crore, but the remaining amount will now have to be deposited within 30 days. Google had already deposited 10% of the fine.

It is worth noting that on 25 October 2022, CCI had imposed a fine of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position regarding the policies of Play Store.