Google: Union Minister for Information and Technology, Rajiv Chandrashekhar has warned that Google may be penalized for its ‘anti-breach of trust’ business practices. The minister has also charged Google with misusing its market dominance position.
Google’s troubles in India
In October 2022, the Competition Commission of India fined $275 million (approximately INR 1600 crores) for resorting to monopoly. The CCI had charged Google for forcing developers to use its in-app payment system. In its order, the state regulator found the Alphabet Inc. company driving its user base unethically and by abusing its dominance.
Google has also reportedly broken the guidelines set up by the CCI after the regulator’s October decision. Match Group (owners of Tinder) and a few other startups have alleged that a new user fee that users must pay on Google’s in-app payment system, violates CCI’s guidelines.
At the time of writing, a tribunal had upheld the CCI’s orders. However, Google has appealed the $275 million penalty in a superior court.Following the CCI’s orders, Google was forced to change the way its markets its mobile operating system in India.Mr Chandrashekhar thinks that such business practices are serious and the Government will definitely penalize offending companies, including Google.
‘Major culture problems’
Google’s also been facing culture-related problems lately. Former CEO Eric Schmidt says the company should accept ‘aberrant geniuses’ for more cutting-edge inventions. Schmidt mentions Andy Rubin, the inventor of Android, who was forced to leave Google on charges of sexual harassment.
‘Aberrant geniuses make tremendous products, and hence must be given a long rope,‘ Schmidt said in an interview with Wired. Some of the cutting-edge products from Google include Gmail, Google Maps, and the Android operating system.
Google has also been beset with allegations of making censorship-friendly products for China. Last year, the company was forced to stop making a China-specific search engine that could eavesdrop on its users.
