Google's argument in SC against CCI order contradictory: Indus OS CEO

US tech giant argues regulator's order will stall growth of the Android ecosystem in India

As the Supreme Court later this month hears Google’s petition against a Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) order penalising the US tech giant for allegedly violating competition law, one senior industry executive is backing the regulator.

“Google’s argument however is contradictory as competition breeds innovation which only makes technology more affordable for everyone. Google itself has pointed out that the prices of smartphone devices have dropped drastically over the last 5 years. This has been made possible only due to innovations in the field of mobile hardware,” said Rakesh Deshmukh, co-founder and chief executive officer of Indus OS, a homegrown application and content discovery platform.

CCI, last October, fined Google Rs 1,338 crore and asked it to "cease and desist" from misusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device ecosystem. Google’s plea before the Supreme Court says that the CCI ruling will stall the growth of the Android ecosystem in the country, hurt stakeholders and drive up device price point.

“The CCI ruling against Google very clearly encourages software innovation, which will only help bring down the prices of smartphone devices, thus ensuring even further digital penetration as opposed to stalling the growth of the Android ecosystem by pushing up the device price point," Deshmukh said in a statement.

Indus OS was launched in 2013 as an early player in the Indian Android ecosystem; it was later acquired by PhonePe.

“This democratization in the field of software innovation will fuel further penetration of the Android ecosystem in the Indian market. This will also provide a level playing field for players like Indus OS and MapmyIndia, by ensuring unrestricted distribution within the Android ecosystem,” he said.

“The CCI ruling against Google is a step towards ushering in the next phase of digital revolution in the country. It will allow more players to exist in the currently monopolistic market, leading to more innovation duly keeping the needs of the Indian users in mind, thus giving them the freedom of choice and thereby ensuring higher digital penetration and further decreasing the device prices,” he added.