Billing system case: Google withdraws appeal against Delhi HC order

Google on Thursday withdrew its appeal against a single-judge order of the Delhi High Court directing the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to take up the applications moved by a group of Indian digital startups against the tech giant’s new in-app user choice billing system.

The company withdrew its appeal on the grounds that the order was passed when the CCI did not have the quorum to hear the petition. The CCI now has the quorum and has been hearing the plea by filed by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF), it said.

The CCI said it has no objection to the withdrawal.

The single-judge bench of the Delhi High Court in April had asked the CCI to decide on the ADIF plea against Google's billing policy, prompting the tech giant to filed an appeal against this order.

The ADIF, which represents a group of digital start-ups, filed the petition seeking suspension of Google's new in-app billing fee system, called the User Choice Billing (UCB), until the CCI completes investigation into Google’s alleged non-compliance with its directives.

The ADIF had alleged that despite the regulator’s directive asking the California-based company to allow the use of third-party billing services for in-app payments, the UCB system charged a high service fee.

The CCI, in October 2022, imposed a penalty of ~936 crore on Google and asked it to allow and not restrict app developers from using any third-party billing services and to not impose any discriminatory condition. The appeal by Google against this decision is pending in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.