Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) inches down 0.61% pre trading session on Friday as it is getting ready to file a petition with India’s Supreme Court in the coming days to challenge an antitrust watchdog decision that would require the American giant to alter how it promotes its Android platform, according to two individuals familiar with the company’s plan.
In October, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) penalized the Alphabet Inc. division $161 million for abusing its dominating position in the Android market, which runs 97% of India’s smartphones and is a crucial growth area for the American behemoth.
Google has been concerned about the Indian judgment, meanwhile, as the remedies mandated are viewed as being more extensive than the European Commission’s historic 2018 judgment for placing unlawful limitations on manufacturers of Android mobile devices. In that instance, Google has contested the record-breaking $4.3 billion penalties.
The antitrust watchdog’s deadline of January 19 to apply modifications to its methodology is drawing near, and Google is now preparing to file a legal challenge at the Supreme Court of India, according to the first source with direct knowledge.
An inquiry for comment was not immediately answered by a Google spokesman.
The Supreme Court’s action will follow Google’s loss on Wednesday when a court denied its attempt to overturn the antitrust decision. The company said that following CCI’s instructions would harm both its long-standing business model and the interests of its customers.
According to the insider, Google feels that parts of CCI’s directions cannot be carried out and “has no other alternative” except to petition the Supreme Court for relief.
Google licenses its Android operating system to smartphone manufacturers, but detractors claim that it imposes anti-competitive limitations including the requirement to pre-install Google’s own apps. Such contracts, according to the corporation, help maintain the operating system open source.
The CCI decided in October that the pre-installation of Google search services, the Chrome browser, YouTube, or any other Google apps “must not be associated with the licensing of Google’s Play Store.”
Separately, according to Reuters, Google claimed in its papers that the CCI’s investigative section replicated portions of a European 2018 judgement against the U.S. company. These accusations have received no response from the CCI or the European Commission.