Indonesia Antitrust Google
The anti-trust body in Indonesia, KPPU, announced on Thursday that it is looking into possible unfair business practices by Google over the use of proprietary payment services for its Google Play Store software distribution platform.
The action comes after comparable inquiries against Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., by antitrust authorities worldwide.
KPPU stated in a statement that it “suspects that Google has engaged in an abuse of its dominating position, conditional sales, and discriminatory practices in digital application distribution in Indonesia.”
According to a preliminary investigation, Indonesian app developers have been forced to utilize Google’s payment system, which levies a 15% to 30% cost, since June 1, according to the KPPU.
According to it, Google Pay Billing charges a lot more than other services, which only cost 5% or less before the rule went into effect.
Apps ran the possibility of being deleted from the Google Play Store if they disobeyed, it noted.
According to KPPU, Google has a 93% market share in the 270 million-people nation with a rapidly expanding digital economy.
In other nations where it has faced similar probes, Google has maintained that its service fee helps keep Android free, offering developers the tools and global platform to reach billions of consumers across the world. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Over the past ten years, the European Union has penalized Google more than 8 billion euros ($7.99 billion) for anti-competitive behavior including its price comparison tool, Android mobile operating system, and advertising service.
On Wednesday, a leading European court upheld a finding that the business had violated competition laws and imposed a record-breaking penalties of 4.1 billion euros.
The South Korean telecoms regulator announced in August that it would look into alleged in-app payment law violations by app store providers, including Google.
The “anti-Google” regulation, which was passed by Seoul last year, forbids the biggest app store operators from pressuring software developers to use their payment systems, thereby prohibiting them from levying commissions on in-app transactions.
The investigation will be carried out by KPPU over the ensuing 60 days. According to a representative, Google might be punished up to 50% of its net profit made during the relevant time if it is discovered that it violated anti-monopoly legislation.
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