Tuna Cetin
Fortnite-maker Epic Games filed an appeal in an Indian tribunal last Thursday alleging that Google isn’t complying with the country’s recent antitrust ruling by not allowing third party app stores on its Play Store, as reported by Reuters.
The Competition Commission of India fined Google $161 million in October for abusing its dominance in the Android market, and ordered it to loosen its limitations on device manufacturers. Although Google challenged the CCI’s ruling, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal refused its request to block it. Google then said the ruling would stall Android’s growth in India, and tried to challenge the tribunal’s ruling too, but it was rejected by the country’s Supreme Court as well.
After losing its legal fight, Google announced late last month that it will comply with the ruling and roll out changes to its business in the country.
However, Epic Games claimed that the company still doesn’t allow third party app stores on its Play Store and doesn’t let users sideload apps outside of its marketplace, which is also known as ‘’sideloading’’. The game company said that it has been ‘’exploring launching’’ its Epic Games Store on the Play Store but has been ‘’adversely affected’’ by Google’s non-compliance.
In a statement to Reuters, Bakari Middleton, Epic’s Director of Global Public Policy, said: “We are seeking to join Indian developers in court to support the CCI’s order that requires Google to allow competing third-party app stores.”
Google, on the other hand, said that its compliance plan has been submitted to the CCI and that it would ‘’continue to respectfully follow the legal process in India.”
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