AMN / WEB DESK
India’s Fair trade regulator Competition Commission of India CCI on Friday ordered a probe against Google for its alleged abuse of dominant position.
“In a well-functioning democracy, the critical role played by news media cannot be undermined, and it needs to be ensured that digital gatekeeper firms do not abuse their dominant position to harm the competitive process of determining a fair distribution of revenue amongst all stakeholders,” CCI said.
It added that the Commission is of prima facie view that Google has violated provisions of Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 which pertains to abuse of dominant position.
The order came on a complaint filed by the Digital News Publishers Association, which is a private company that promotes and secures interest of digital news publishers.
The association said its members, being engaged in the business of news media, have always endeavoured to provide credible and fact-checked news, which is the bedrock of any democracy, but with the emergence of digital news media and the pandemic, there have been serious disruptions.
The complainant stated that news media companies create the context for the audience to interface with the advertiser, but online search engines like Google end up leveraging the revenue and returns much more than publishers.
It has been contended that Google not only has a monopolistic position with regard to search in India, it also has a very strong position in advertising intermediation and controls the major share at each level.
Accordingly, the CCI has directed the Director General (DG) to do an investigation into the matter under the provisions of Section 26(1) of the Act. The CCI has also directed the DG to complete the investigation and submit the report in 60 days from the date of receipt of the order.