The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has charged global engine pioneer Google a hefty penalty of $1.36 billion (Rs 136 crore) for anti-trust conduct in the Indian market for online search.
Complaints were registered by Matrimony.com and Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) — back in 2012 — against Google LLC, Google India Pvt Ltd and Google Ireland Ltd.
CCI opined that after a lot of consideration, they found it apt to impose the penalty.
In the order CCI mentioned: “The commission has given thoughtful consideration on the submissions made by Google and finds it appropriate to impose a penalty at the rate of 5% of their average total revenue generated from India operations from different business segments for the financial year 2013, 2014 and 2015 as provided by Google during its submission.”
The commission asked Google to pay the penalty within 60 days after receiving the order.
A Google spokesperson told Times of India: “We have always focused on innovating to support the evolving needs of our users. The Competition Commission of India has confirmed that, on the majority of issues it examined, our conduct complies with Indian competition laws. We are reviewing the narrow concerns identified by the commission and will assess our next steps.”