Bad news for Sundar Pichai, Google to pay Rs 3142759867 fine for doing deals with…
Google has agreed to pay a fine of 55 million Australian dollars ($36 million) for entering into anticompetitive agreements with Australia’s two largest telecom operators that restricted the installation of rival search engines on certain smartphones, the US tech giant and the Australian competition regulator confirmed.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said in a statement that it has initiated proceedings in the Federal Court against Google’s Singapore-based Asia Pacific division. The court will now determine whether the proposed AU$55 million ($36 million) penalty is appropriate.
Why Is Google Fined?
Under the anticompetitive agreements, which were in place for 15 months until March 2021, Telstra and Optus only pre-installed Google Search on Android phones sold to customers. Other search engines were excluded. In return, the telcos received a share of the advertisement revenue Google generated from those customers.
Google accepted that the agreements were likely to have the effect of “substantially lessening competition,” the commission said.
Google has also signed a court-enforceable undertaking that commits the company to removing certain pre-installation and default search engine restrictions from its contracts with Android phone manufacturers and telcos, the commission said.
The tech company said in a statement: “We’re pleased to resolve the ACCC’s concerns, which involved provisions that haven’t been in our commercial agreements for some time.”
What Australian Authorities Say On Anticompetitive Agreements?
Commissioner chair Gina-Cass Gottlieb said: “Conduct that restricts competition is illegal in Australia because it usually means less choice, higher costs or worse service for consumers.”
“Importantly, these changes come at a time when AI search tools are revolutionising how we search for information, creating new competition,” Cass-Gottlieb added.
Last year, Telstra, Optus and their smaller rival TPG agreed to court-enforceable undertakings with the commission that they would not renew or make similar deals with Google to limit search options.
(With Input From Agencies)
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