Indonesia has launched an antitrust investigation into Google over the tech firm’s insistence that its payment system be used for purchases from its app store, officials said Thursday, accusing it of unfair business practices. has been installed.
The US internet giant is under legal scrutiny in several countries over its requirement that its billing system be used by all buyers on Google Play.
Officials in Jakarta said in a statement that they suspected “Google has abused its dominant position in the distribution of digital applications in Indonesia by imposing conditional sales and discrimination”.
Google Play is Indonesia’s largest app distribution platform, reaching approximately 270 million people.
Third-party developers offering their apps on Google Play are charged a 15 to 30 percent service fee, higher than the five percent charged by other payment systems, according to a preliminary investigation by the country’s antitrust agency. in accordance.
“Concerned developers cannot deny this responsibility as Google may impose restrictions by removing their applications from the Google Play Store and preventing them from updating their applications,” the agency said.
Google Indonesia said on Friday that it will work with Indonesian authorities “to demonstrate how Google Play supports developers”.
It added that since earlier this month, it has launched a pilot billing system, allowing an alternative payment system to the one used on Google Play.
The US multinational is facing lawsuits in the US, Europe and Asia based on similar allegations.
Google has also faced claims that it forced phone makers to use the Android operating system for its search engine and Chrome internet browser.
On Wednesday, the EU’s second-highest court ruled that “Google imposed illegal restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices”.
The court upheld a record EU fine of more than four billion euros ($4 billion) against Google
The case was the third of three major cases brought against Google by EU competition czar Margaret Vestager, whose legal challenges were the first worldwide to directly compete with the Silicon Valley tech giants.
South Korea last year fined Google nearly $180 million for abusing its dominant market position in a similar case over the Android system.
