Indonesia has launched an anti-trust investigation into
Google over the tech
firm's insistence that its payment system be used for purchases from its app
store, authorities said Thursday, accusing it of unfair business practices.
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The US internet giant has been under legal scrutiny in a number of countries
over its stipulation that its billing system be used by all buyers on Google
Play.
Authorities in Jakarta said in a statement they suspected "Google has
abused its dominant position by imposing conditional sales and discriminatory
practices in digital application distribution in Indonesia".
Google Play is the largest app distribution platform in Indonesia, a country
of 270 million people.
Third party developers offering their apps on Google Play are charged a 15
to 30 percent service fee, higher than the five percent imposed by other
payment systems, according to an initial probe by the nation's anti-trust
agency.
"The respective developers cannot refuse the obligation because Google
can impose sanctions by removing their applications from the Google Play store
and preventing them from making updates to their applications," the agency
said.
Google did not immediately reply to a request for comment from AFP.
The American multinational has faced a barrage of legal cases in the United
States, Europe and Asia based on similar accusations.
Google has also faced claims that it unfairly forced its search engine and
Chrome internet browser on phone makers using the Android operating system.
On Wednesday, the European Union's second-highest court ruled that
"Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile
devices".
That case was the third of three major cases brought against Google by the
EU's competition czar Margrethe Vestager, whose legal challenges were the first
worldwide to directly take on Silicon Valley tech giants.
South Korea fined Google nearly $180 million last year for abusing its
dominant market position in a similar case regarding the Android system.
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