Indonesia’s antitrust agency KPPU fined Google 202.5 billion Rupiah, equivalent to $12.6 million, on Wednesday for antitrust violations related to payment system services for the Google Play Store. KPPU ordered the search giant to end the mandatory use of Google Play Billing in the Google Play Store. It also asked Google to make all developers participate in the User Choice Billing (UCB) program and offer a minimum service fee discount of 5% for one year after the decision was made, according to the statement. The antitrust watchdog launched an investigation into Google in 2022 for market dominance – in particular, the company requires Indonesian app developers to use Google Play Billing (GPB). The agency found that the Google Pay Billing System has been charging fees up to 30%, higher than other payment systems. Google Play Store handles payments between developers and users through the GPB System for in-app purchases. Google requires all purchases of digital products and services in the Google Play Store to run the Google Play Billing system. At the same time, ban other payment alternatives to Google Play Billing. The agency said limiting payment options resulted in fewer app users, reduced transactions and reduced revenue. The agency notes that the Google Play Store is the only application store that has been installed on all Android devices, with a market share of more than 50%. For the search engine market, Google holds a 95.16% market share in the Indonesian search market, and other search engines such as Bing, Yahoo!, DuckDuckGo, and Yandex hold the rest until January 2024, according to Statista. Google plans to appeal the decision. “We strongly disagree with the KPPU’s decision and will appeal. Our current practices foster a healthy and competitive Indonesian application ecosystem, offering a secure platform, global reach, and options, including user-choice billing – which allows an alternative to the Google Play billing system,” said Google spokesperson Danielle Cohen in an email statement. “Beyond our platform, we actively support Indonesian developers through a full suite of initiatives, including the Indie Games Accelerator, Play Academy, and Play x Unity, reflecting our deep investment in their success. We remain committed to complying with Indonesian law and will continue to cooperate with the KPPU and stakeholders during the appeal process,” he said. The technology industry has been closely watching a series of legal disputes involving Google being fined for violating anti-competitive practices for abusing dominant market power. in various countries, including Indonesia, India, South Korea, France, the EU and Japan Antitrust regulators will determine that Google has violated Japan’s antitrust laws and will order the tech giant to end its monopolistic behavior, according to Nikkei Asia.
Google fined $12.6M in Indonesia for monopolistic practices in the payment system
