CCI Directs Investigation Against Google Pay For Alleged Abuse Of Dominant Position

The complaint before CCI raised the following issues: (a) mandatory use of Google Play’s payment system for purchasing the apps & IAPs in the Play Store and (b) excluding other mobile wallets/UPI apps as one of the effective payment options in the Google Play’s payment system (c) Google encourages pre-installation and opting of Google Pay as the default payment option on new smart mobile devices using the Android OS at the time of initial set up (d) Prominent placement of Google Pay on the Play Store (e) Search advertisement manipulation on the Play Store A Bench headed by Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta has directed the Director General to conduct an investigation into the matter under Section 26(1) of the Competition Act, 2020, and conclude the same within a period of 60 days. The order has come in a complaint filed by an anonymous Informant, alleging that through its control over Play Store and Android Operating System, Google is favouring GPay over other competing apps, to the disadvantage of both i.e. apps facilitating payment through UPI, as well as users.