The Supreme Court has consented to consider startup applications challenging Google's pricing structure

The Supreme Court has consented to consider startup applications challenging Google's pricing structure

Google

But a court headed by India's Chief Justice, DY Chandrachud, declined to issue a temporary injunction preventing these companies from being taken down from Google Play Store.

Startups bring Google to the Supreme Court

On February 9, the Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal from a group of entrepreneurs contesting Google's invoicing practices.

But a court headed by India's Chief Justice, DY Chandrachud, declined to issue a temporary injunction preventing these companies from being taken down from Google Play Store. This gives Google the authority to delete these firms' applications if they disagree with the pricing schedule. Because the startups are tiny businesses, senior attorneys Mukul Rohatgi and Balbir Singh pleaded with the court to shield them while the appeal is resolved.

Since the startups had lost in front of the division bench as well as the single judge, the CJI declined to issue any interim orders.

On January 19, a two-judge Madras High Court panel rejected a request from startups that had contested the court's one-judge ruling, including Bharat Matrimony, Shaadi.com, and Unacademy.

Their applications were declared "not maintainable" by the court, who also declared that the CCI has the authority to make a decision.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has the authority to force any corporation found guilty of abusing its dominant position to cease these actions, according to the ruling of the High Court. As a result, all enterprises must abide with the CCI's decision.

Early in 2023, the court ordered these firms to pay Google an in-app payment price of 4 percent instead of the higher 5 percent that was originally requested.

The tech giant was instructed not to take any of them down from the Play Store.

Google's notification to either accept its new charging policy or risk being removed from the app store was contested by the petitioners.

Google said that it would begin implementing its Play billing policy in India in May 2023.

Google was fined Rs 936.44 crore by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) a few months ago for abusing its dominant position with relation to Play Store policy.

It had instructed the business to refrain from preventing app developers from utilizing payment processing or third-party billing services for in-app purchases on Google Play or app purchases.