Last Update: February 22, 2023, 08:05 IST
Google India can make huge changes
Google has been ordered to make wholesale changes to its business practices in India and this report gives us more details.
Google has been battling the Android antitrust case in India for some time now, but recently suffered a major setback with the conditions placed on its business practices. One of these clauses was the removal of Google apps on Android phones, which means apps like Chrome, Maps and Gmail are no longer preloaded on smartphones in the country.
The details of the document have been attributed to tipster Kuba Wojciechowski, who claims that Google will only be allowed to preload the Play Store for Android smartphones in India. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) clearly felt that Google is using its monopoly in the smartphone market to push its products on consumers.
Thus this new agreement is different from the existing region-specific MADA extensions. IMADA is the only one which is optional, in all other cases it is necessary to meet the customized rules. pic.twitter.com/PR3mzbguir– Kuba Wojciechowski 🌺 (@Za_Raczke) February 18, 2023
Having these apps by default has been convenient for users, but competition alleges that Google has restricted their growth and access to these smartphone users. Google has been forced to develop an India-specific Mobile Application Distribution Agreement (iMADA), which is shared with the company’s handset partners in India and their signatures are taken to bring the agreement into action. The terms of this settlement highlight the changes that Google has been ordered to make in India by the CCI.
Handset partners with Google are no longer required to provide the Google Search homescreen widget, and also stop providing shortcuts to Google apps on the homescreen. The tweet here also suggests that phone makers are not required to install any of Google’s apps on their devices sold in India, except for the Play Store (Google’s app store).
Google will now also provide users with an option to select their default web browser and not push Chrome every time. The tipster mentions that Google can still get its partners to preload Google apps but they will have to pay for the practice. The billing system is also now transparent, allowing more companies to link their process.
We still don’t know when these changes will go into effect for the consumer, who will have to manually install these apps, but some of you will also have the option of downloading other apps that you want to try.
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