India antitrust watchdog probes accusations that Google abused Android

India’s antitrust commission is looking into accusations that Alphabet Inc’s unit Google abuses its popular Android mobile operating system to block its rivals, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has for the past six months been reviewing a case similar to one Google faced in Europe that led to a fine of 4.34 billion euro ($5 billion) by antitrust regulators last year, three of the sources said.

Google has challenged that order. The European Commission found Google had abused its market dominance since 2011 with practices such as forcing manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and its Chrome browser, together with its Google Play app store on Android devices.

“It is on the lines of the EU case, but at a preliminary stage,” said one of the sources, who is aware of the CCI investigation. Google declined to comment. The CCI did not respond to Reuters’ queries. The watchdog’s enquiry into allegations against Google over its Android platform has not previously been reported.