In a number of countries, laws have been looked at regarding the US Internet giant.
Jakarta (AFP): Indonesia is looking into whether Google is using unfair business practises by making its payment system the only one that can be used to buy apps from its app store, the government said Thursday.
The US internet giant is being looked at by the law in a number of countries because it wants all Google Play buyers to use its billing system.
In a statement, authorities in Jakarta said they thought that “Google has abused its dominant position by imposing conditional sales and discriminatory practises in the distribution of digital applications in Indonesia.”
Related: S. Korea gives Google and Meta billions of won in fines for breaking privacy rules
Google Play is the most popular way for people in Indonesia, a country with about 270 million people, to get apps.
An initial investigation by the country’s antitrust agency found that third-party developers who sell their apps on Google Play are charged a 15–30% service fee. This is more than the 5-10% that other payment systems charge.
“The developers can’t say no to the requirement because Google can punish them by removing their apps from the Google Play Store and stopping them from making updates,” the agency said.
Google Indonesia said on Friday that it would work with the Indonesian government “to show how Google Play helps developers.”
It also said that it has been testing a new way to pay for things since the beginning of this month. This is in addition to the payment system used on Google Play.
The American multinational has been sued a lot in the U.S., Europe, and Asia on the same kinds of charges.
People have also said that Google forced phone makers who use the Android operating system to use its search engine and Chrome web browser.
On Wednesday, the second-highest court in the European Union ruled that “Google put illegal restrictions on companies that make Android mobile devices.”
The EU’s record fine of more than 4 billion euros ($4 billion) against Google was upheld by the court.
Related: The US and Google make a deal to make chips for researchers.
This was the third major case that the EU’s competition czar, Margrethe Vestager, brought against Google. Her cases were the first in the world to directly go up against Silicon Valley tech giants.
In a similar case about the Android system, South Korea fined Google nearly $180 million for abusing its strong market position.
