Competition Panel Ruling May Cause Irreparable Harm, Says Google

Alphabet Inc's Google has said Competition Commission of India's (CCI) ruling that found it was guilty of a search bias could cause "irreparable" harm and reputational loss to the company, according to news agency Reuters. CCI, the antitrust watchdog, in February imposed a fine of Rs. 136 crore on Google for search bias. In April, Google appealed against the ruling, while the website Matrimony.com - which first brought the case in 2012 - has appealed against CCI's ruling as it believes Google has got off too lightly.
 
Here are five things to know about what Google said on CCI's order:
 
1. The order, the company said, "requires Google to change the way it conducts business in India on a lasting basis and the way it designs its search results page in India", according to Reuters.
 
2. The CCI, among other things, had ordered Google to stop imposing restrictions on its direct search agreements with other publishers.
 
3. Google last month obtained a partial stay on the ruling from the company law tribunal, which allowed it to deposit only a small part of the imposed penalty.
 
4. Last year, the European Commission also slapped a record $2.8 billion fine on the company for demoting rival offerings. Google appealed against the order.
 
5. The "volume of business generated through these agreements is substantial" for Google, the order said. In its plea challenging the ruling, Google said the CCI wrongly ruled that such agreements violate the domestic competition law, reported Reuters. The appeal will next be heard on May 28.

(With Reuters Inputs)