CCI ordered an investigation into Google following an allegation of anti-competitive conduct favouring specific firms. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Competition Commission of India on Thursday (November 28, 2024) ordered an investigation into Google following an allegation of anti-competitive conduct favouring specific firms. The allegation was made by the real money gaming platform WinZO, which offers a suite of pay-to-win games like ludo, rummy, and fantasy sports. 

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Among other things, WinZO said that a Google Play app marketplace policy which only whitelisted rummy and fantasy games benefited a small number of large players in those spaces. Google Play’s decision “to include only Fantasy & Rummy, and [its] Ads Policy to allow only Fantasy & Rummy businesses to advertise on the internet, effectively distorts the market,” Saumya Singh Rathore, WinZO’s founder said in a statement.

WinZO here is referring to a pilot programme launched by Google last year to gradually allow real money gaming apps on its app marketplace in India, a programme which is currently only limited to rummy and fantasy sports providers like Dream11. WinZO, which provides those as well as other games, said that it was being disadvantaged by the fact that only these two categories are being allowed. 

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A Google spokesperson did not respond immediately to a query on the CCI’s order.

On top of these complaints, WinZO, which has also pursued Google in the Delhi High Court on browser warnings when users install its apps on Android devices, also complained of other forms of what it characterises as anti-competitive conduct. On Google Pay, according to one of WinZO’s contentions, users often see a warning message when loading money into WinZO wallets, as the app incorrectly flags these transactions as suspicious at times.

The CCI’s investigation is likely to be completed only after its director general finishes his investigation into the matter, and both parties are given opportunities for hearing. In 2022, the CCI had fined Google ₹2,273 crore in two separate rulings, saying that the tech giant had violated competition law in deals with phonemakers and in the design of Google Play.