India’s Minister of State for Corporate Affairs, R.P.N. Singh, has confirmed that Google faces further competition scrutiny in India. In response to a question from Parliament, Mr Singh said that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had recently begun an investigation after receiving a complaint from CUTS International, an NGO based in India focusing on social justice, poverty and fair trade issues. The investigation is looking into whether Google has breached section 4 of the Competition Act 2002 which prohibits abuse of dominant positions. Google has said that “we’re confident that our products are compliant with competition law in India”.
The investigation is the second facing Google in India. In May, there were reports that the CCI was investigating Google after a complaint by BharatMatrimony.com, an online matrimonial website, that Google had abused its market position by selling keywords related to BharatMatrimony.com on Google’s search advertising platform, Adwords, to its rivals.
No further details about the more recent investigation have been revealed. Google is facing antitrust scrutiny in various countries including Argentina, South Korea, the US and EU.
