India’s National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has imposed a $160m fine to Google as their Android system was accused of poor business practices and market dominance.

The enquiry started in 2019 after Android users filed complaints and the competition commission of India (CCI) found that Google was manipulating its market dominance to gain an unfair market advantages.

An overwhelming 95% of Indian smartphones use Android.

The tribunal has requested many changes such as, not forcing manufacturers to pre-install the entire Google suite (all apps included) and having users choose it as their default search engine.

A GlobalData report: Google’s android privacy protections may please advertisers more than consumers, recognises that the system’s efforts to increase visibility would be self-serving.

The report states, “No one knows what these promised solutions will entail and whether they might primarily serve to benefit Google rather than all the other entities involved in the digital ad ecosystem.

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“Google’s efforts to have its cake and eat it, by improving user privacy while seeking to enable advertisers, publishers, developers, and others to continue engaging in limited though apparently still targeted advertising, could end up pleasing no one,” the report continues.

The fine will force Google to amend arrangements with over 1,100 device manufacturers and countless app developers.

Google continues to face more anti-trust cases in India.