Delhi High Court refuses to hear ADIF, IBDF pleas over CCI's inaction

The Delhi High Court on Friday refused to entertain petitions by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) and the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF) over the 'inaction of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to expeditiously hear and decide' on their interim relief application filed against Google in the user choice billing system case.

ADIF represents a group of startups, and IBDF is a unified representative body of television broadcasters and OTT platforms.

The High Court said that since the CCI has decided to hear the pleas against Google on February 21, the petitions have now become infructuous. The court said it cannot pressure a regulator to hear a case unless the regulator (CCI) is not hearing the cases of ADIF and IBDF while taking up other petitions.

Both ADIF and IBDF had moved the court alleging that the CCI had not heard their case against Google's billing policy since July 2023.

ADIF had told the Delhi High Court that ‘there will be a cascading effect of harm to the market, and it will not be able to recoup the competitive loss at the hands of Google if the CCI does not decide on its plea.'

“The pleadings in the matter are complete in July 2023, and despite repeated requests for expeditious adjudication on the contravention and interim relief application, no oral hearings were conducted, and the urgency applications are being disposed of, keeping the matter pending. The delay is for more than seven months,” the ADIF plea said.

ADIF filed a petition before the Delhi High Court in April 2023 to suspend Google's new in-app billing fee system, called the User Choice Billing (UCB), until the CCI investigates the company for alleged non-compliance with its directives.

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

Google was to implement the UCB from April 26, 2023.

It has now given a deadline of March 13, 2024, for app developers to integrate UCB-related API in the apps listed on the Google Play Store.

The CCI, in October 2022, imposed a penalty of Rs 936 crore on Google and asked it to allow and not restrict app developers from using any third-party billing services and not be treated discriminately.

The appeal by Google against this decision is pending in the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal.