Nasheman

India's largest selling Urdu weekly, now also in English

You are here: Home / Archives for Business & Technology

Automobile industry looks to sustain growth momentum in 2023

by

NEW DELHI: The Indian automobile industry is setting out on a journey with hopes for a sustained growth momentum in 2023 and further embracing clean technology amid the lurking speed breakers of rising interest rates and cost increases due to new emission and safety norms, having witnessed a strong comeback from the COVID-led downturn this year. 

While the passenger vehicles (PV) segment is set for record sales in 2022 despite the lingering effects of supply chain constraints and semiconductor shortages, the two-wheeler space is yet to see sustained sales buoyancy after having suffered for most of the year.

According to industry estimates, PV sales can reach around 38 lakh units this year.

The three-wheelers and commercial vehicles segments have also witnessed good growth in 2022 compared to 2021, albeit on a low base of last year, which was affected by the second wave of COVID-19 and manufacturers will be keen to carry forward the momentum to the new year.

As per industry observers, 2023 will also see acceleration in adoption of electric vehicles, which has already started taking root in 2022, especially in the two-wheelers segment.

For potential passenger vehicle buyers, 2023 may not ring in the best news as vehicle prices are set to increase next year as companies prepare to conform to stricter emission norms which kick in from April 1, 2023.

Many manufacturers like Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hyundai have already announced plans to increase prices from January next year.

Besides, rising interest rates and not so bright global economic situation and its impact on India in the days to come are some of the factors which are keeping the industry in a cautious mode.

“Increase in price always has a certain negative impact on sales. But we still do not know how much the prices will go up and what will happen to input cost and foreign exchange. These are uncertainties which will always be there,” Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava told PTI.

He, however, stated that the domestic car industry has revived in the last few months and the semiconductor shortages are also going to abate in 2023.

“Putting it all together, our estimate would be that next year would probably be a reasonably good year for the industry. I think we should do at least as well if not better than 2022,” Bhargava said.

The country’s largest carmaker will keep bringing in cars, especially more SUV models, to cater to the customer demand, he noted.

Industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) Director General Rajesh Menon said the passenger vehicle industry adopted the second phase of fuel efficiency regulations this year from April 2022 and is gearing up to meet the stringent second phase of BS VI emission norms from April 2023.

Discussions are also underway to implement various new safety regulations for passenger vehicles in 2023, he said.

“Implementation of these new regulations could raise the cost of the vehicles and this coupled with global recessionary trends are of concern going forward in the year 2023,” Menon pointed out.

Besides, with rising inflation, the RBI was compelled to increase the repo rates a couple of times this year and this increase in interest rate can impact the demand trends for all vehicle segments, he cautioned.

Though the overall numbers from January to November 2022 have shown appreciable growth for all segments including passenger vehicles, this has been achieved in the backdrop of a low base in 2021, which was affected by the second wave of COVID-19, Menon stated.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Executive Director (Auto and Farm Sectors) Rajesh Jejurikar, however, remained confident about the industry maintaining the current sales momentum.

“At M&M, all models will comply with BS-VI.2 norms as per timelines set by the government and the price / cost difference may not be as steep as it was for the BS-IV to BS-VI transition,” he asserted.

While acknowledging that the semiconductor shortage continues to be dynamic and rising input costs and interest rates are some other challenges that the industry is managing, he remained optimistic about sales momentum continuing next year.

“Apart from these headwinds, we look forward to an action-packed 2023 on the back of huge demand from customers,” Jejurikar said.

Tata Motors Managing Director – Passenger Vehicle and Electric Vehicles Shailesh Chandra pointed out that it would be worthwhile to see the impact of macroeconomic factors like inflationary pressure on the industry.

“I would say that the growth is going to be high this year but next year on a very high base, with the interplay of so many tailwinds and headwinds, it would be still growth, but to what extent that growth would be on the high base, that will be seen,” he noted.

Kia India Chief Sales Officer Myung-sik Sohn said stricter emission norms are a positive for the industry’s collective efforts of trying to minimise pollution from vehicles.

However, they will surely have an impact on vehicle prices.

“You will see a hike in prices across all OEMs, but looking at the high demand for cars currently, we expect little impact on sales momentum,” he noted.

Automotive dealer’s body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) noted that the PV segment still continues to hold a strong order book for several models which is expected to continue for a few months.

“The OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) need to continue with the creation of excitement through new launches, product upgrades etc. We expect the production soon to be back to normal and we can bring down the long waiting period to normal,” FADA President Manish Raj Singhania stated.

The long waiting period and flexible consumer behaviour during the festive season have helped the industry to see movement in the segment, but once the demand and supply balance is restored, the slow-moving models will be a challenge for the industry, Singhania said.

Commenting on the sales growth outlook, ICRA Vice President and Sector Head Corporate Ratings Rohan Kanwar Gupta said the rating agency expects the industry demand to remain steady and volumes to grow by 6-9 per cent in FY2024.

“The capex outlay for OEMs is estimated to remain heightened (an estimated outlay of Rs 650 billion over FY2023-FY2025, with the OEMs also budgeting for a substantial outlay towards new product development, including development of capabilities/platforms for electric vehicles,” he added.

Elaborating on the luxury car segment, Mercedes-Benz India’s outgoing Managing Director and CEO Martin Schwenk said, “We have to see how the overall economic climate is there. Overall, confidence is there that 2023 should be a good year. The world is dynamic but at the moment, we are starting with a positive momentum into next year.”

As for the two-wheeler segment, Menon said while an increase in interest rate can impact the demand trends for all vehicle segments, the government has also hiked the long-term insurance premium, which specifically impacts the two-wheeler segment.

“Two-wheeler demand has remained weak over the past few years, with consumer sentiments impacted by factors such as income uncertainty during the pandemic period and a persistent hike in two-wheeler prices led by both regulatory changes and inflationary pressures,” ICRA’s Gupta said.

India far ahead of China in IT but Chinese firms catching up on IT tech: Chinese IT expert

by

BEIJING: India’s IT sector, one of the mainstays of its economy, is much ahead of its Chinese counterpart in the global markets but the firms from China are catching up and doing well in e-commerce, autonomous driving, AI and cloud services, according to a top Chinese IT executive.

Mike Liu, the author of the book titled ‘The Rise of Indian IT’, said unlike the Indian firms, who still have a sway in the global markets, especially in IT outsourcing, China’s software revenue is mostly from home.

He said that over 95 per cent of China’s IT earnings come from the domestic Chinese market. “In the global IT market, India is leading much ahead of Chinese market players,” he said.

“The Chinese companies are not a threat to the Indian firms in the global markets,” Mike, one of the rare Chinese IT executives who worked with the top Indian company Infosys for years, told PTI here ahead of his book launch.

The book that provides an insight into the Indian and Chinese information technology development over the decades has been just published in the Chinese language.

It will be published in English soon.

Mike was the first Chinese-born country head of Infosys and worked both in Indian and Chinese firms, besides multinational companies like HP.

According to a recent report by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), China’s software business revenue from January to July this year reached 5.456 trillion yuan (USD 797.26 billion), a year-on-year increase of 10.3 per cent.

IT sectors in both countries contribute about eight per cent to their GDPs, though China’s IT revenues are far higher considering the size of the Chinese economy, Mike said.

While Indian IT firms ruled the global markets, the Chinese firms have established dominance in technology, he said.

He said the Chinese firms have a long way to go to make a dent in the global international markets.

“I foresee Chinese players still have a long learning curve to compete in the English market. Chinese people often ask, why have Indians become so predominant in business in America? The typical view is Indians speak good English. But that is maybe one per cent of the factor,” he said.

For their part, the Chinese companies need to learn many things such as mindset, management systems and governance, he said, adding that an abundant supply of human resources in IT was key for India’s success.

He said the Indian IT phenomenon is not made possible through either deregulated efforts or government subsidies and policies but due to the strong conviction by the Indian tech leaders and software engineers to make a difference.

However, on the tech front of IT and innovation, China has taken the lead, he added.

“The scenario has changed today. The Chinese companies have become a global phenomenon in the B2B and doing well not only in e-commerce but autonomous driving, AI, and cloud services, where you don’t see Indian players, unfortunately, having had the same impact,” Mike said.

Chinese firms like Huawei, Alibaba, Baidu and Tencent made a big leap in technology development, while the Indian IT sector is broadly confined to software outsourcing, spending little on innovation and R&D, he said.

On India’s constant complaint that China is not providing market access to Indian IT firms, he argued that the issue of market access should not be an excuse for Indian IT firms’ inability to penetrate Chinese markets.

While keeping their focus on English language global markets, it is time for the Indian firms to shift their focus to non-English speaking markets such as China to rework their strategy to tap big future revenues, he said.

“The question for Indian IT companies now is how to break into fast-growing non-English speaking countries,” he said.

“Market access alone is something of an easy excuse. If you are determined to engage in a market, then you will figure it out,” he said while highlighting the success of firms like HP in which he worked earlier and made big inroads into the Chinese markets.

For years, China has been stonewalling Indian demand to provide market access to its biggest products in the IT and pharmaceutical firms which struggled to make headway in the Chinese markets despite their global success.

Mike argues that while the Indian IT firms are doing well in the multinational firms based in China, they made limited headway into the burgeoning Chinese market adopting a “cost-conscious” strategy and looking for short-term returns.

“You cannot have the same formula to work in two very different, highly complex markets and societies,” he said.

Prannoy Roy ‘legally’ remains promoter of NDTV despite resignation from board of RRPR Holding

by

Prannoy Roy

NEW DELHI: NDTV promoters — Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy – may have resigned from the board of RRPR Holding, one of the promoters of the New Delhi-based media company, but they legally continue to be the promoters of NDTV.

On November 29, 2022, the NDTV Board approved the resignation of Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy as Directors of RRPR Holding facilitating a tighter grip for the Adani Group over the company. The Roys are the co-founders of NDTV.

The RRPR Holding Private Limited board has also appointed Sudipta Bhattacharya, Sanjay Pugalia and Senthil Chengalvarayan as Directors on RRPRH Board with immediate effect.

“NDTV has been informed by the Promoter Group vehicle RRPR Holding Private Limited (RRPRH) that the Board of Directors at the meeting held today i.e. November 29, 2022, have approved the resignation of Dr. Prannoy Roy and Mrs. Radhika Roy as Directors on the Board of RRPRH, with effect from the close of business hours of November 29, 2022,” said a regulatory filing by the NDTV.

This development comes a day after RRPR Holding on Monday informed that it had transferred shares constituting 99.5% of its equity capital to the Adani Group-owned Vishvapradhan Commercial (VCPL).

This long-pending transfer of shares gave the Adani Group control over a 29.18% stake in NDTV.

The group is also conducting an open offer for an additional 26% stake in the media firm. As of early Wednesday, the exchange data showed that Adani’s open offer drew bids for 5.3 million shares, or 31.78% of the 16.8 million shares on offer so far. This makes Adani the biggest shareholder in NDTV with around 38% stake, ahead of the Roys who together hold 32%.

The open offer will end on December 5.

What happens now

According to experts, the Roys remain the promoter of NDTV by legal definition.

“They will need to step down from the Board and management, and then the company has to pass a resolution for de-promoterisation of Roys. Depromoterisation will happen only if they choose to sell their 32% direct shareholding,” says Shriram Subramanian, founder of proxy advisory firm Ingovern Research Services.

He further says that a resolution should also be passed for the recognition of new promoters (depending on which entity the Adanis want as promoters).

It must be reiterated here that Roys have only resigned from the board of RRPR Holdings, and not from the Board of NDTV.

RRPR Holdings, which was a promoter group entity and then held only 7.56% stake in NDTV, took the loan on behalf of NDTV from Vishvapradhan Commercial Private Limited (VCPL) in two tranches (Rs 350 crore in July 2009 and another Rs 53 crore in January 2010).

As per the loan agreement, RRPR was required to issue warrants to VCPL, which were convertible into equity shares aggregating to 99.99% of share capital of RRPR.

The loan agreement also required Pannoy Roy and Radhika Roy, who together held 55.5% in NDTV at the end of June 2009, to transfer their shares in RRPR Holdings. Due to these terms, RRPR Holdings stake in NDTV increased to 29.18% by January 2010. As mentioned earlier, that stake has now been transferred to VCPL.  

Plea to make Twitter’s Elon Musk party, Delhi HC dismisses with Rs 25,000 costs

by

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed with Rs 25,000 costs a plea seeking to implead Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk as party to a petition challenging suspension of a user’s account for an alleged violation of its rules.

Justice Yashwant Varma termed the application to be “thoroughly misconceived”.

“This application is thoroughly misconceived. It cannot possibly be disputed that a corporate entity is thoroughly represented and therefore, there was no need to file such an application. Accordingly, it is dismissed with a costs of Rs 25,000,” the judge said.

At the outset, the court said “even we need entertainment” and asked the counsel for the petitioner if he was serious in prosecuting the application.

To this, advocate Raghav Awasthi, appearing for the petitioner, said his instructions were to press the application.

He said Musk was not only the director but also holds substantial shares in Twitter and was a necessary party in the matter.

The application said that Musk has a very different approach to free speech and, therefore, his views were important to be heard.

Elon Musk has a very different stand on free speech whereby his opinion is that as long as speech does not violate the law of the land in question, the same should not be curtailed by the respondent no. 2 (Twitter), it claimed.

The high court was hearing a petition by Dimple Kaul, who claimed that her Twitter handle had more than 2,55,000 followers and was used to post educational content in relation to history, literature, politics, archaeology, Indic culture, non-violence, equality, and women rights.

The petitioner’s counsel had contended that Twitter was deleting profiles as per its own sweet will and they have no right to do so in law and asserted that the account be restored during the pendency of the petition.

The high court had earlier sought the stand of Twitter on the petition challenging the out of the blue illegal suspension of a user account for alleged violation of its rules.

Twitter’s counsel had said a writ petition was not maintainable against Twitter which is a private entity. He had said granting any interim relief in the present cases would be as good as granting final relief.

Kaul has submitted that she was informed by Twitter that her account, which was followed by several eminent personalities , was suspended for violating the platform’s rules against ban evasion even when there was no such prior incident.

She has claimed that she was not granted any opportunity of being heard and the illegal action of the respondent No.2 (Twitter) has caused the petitioner to face the kind of mental and emotional trauma which cannot be expressed in words .

Petitioner along with her research team put a lot of money and time on researching educational content and posted various threads for information and knowledge of the general public. (On January 20, 2022) Out of the blue, the petitioner received an email from respondent no.2 regarding the suspension of the Twitter account created by the petitioner, the petition filed through lawyer Mukesh Sharma has said.

The petitioner has asserted that Twitter performs a public function and is bound by Sections 79 of the Information Technology Act, 2000 as well as the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

There is no sanction for the suo-motu actions of the respondent No.2 in suspending the Twitter Account of the Petitioner under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 either. As a matter of fact, the same could lead to the Respondent No.2 losing its intermediary status (under the law), the petition has argued.

It has further contended that the suspension is in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution as it is an impairment of the right to free speech and is arbitrary.

Meta India head Ajit Mohan quits

by

Meta India head Ajit Mohan quits

New Delhi: Social media giant Meta on Thursday said its India head Ajit Mohan has resigned from the company.

“Ajit has decided to step down from his role at Meta to pursue another opportunity outside of the company.

“Over the last four years, he has played an important role in shaping and scaling our India operations so they can serve many millions of Indian businesses, partners and people,” Meta, Global Business Group Vice President, Nicola Mendelsohn said in a statement.

Sources said Mohan has resigned with immediate effect.

Mohan had joined Meta, which was earlier known as Facebook, in January 2019 from Hotstar.

“We remain deeply committed to India and have a strong leadership team in place to carry on all our work and partnerships. We are grateful for Ajit’s leadership and contribution and wish him the very best for the future,” Mendelsohn said.

Elon Musk announces USD 8 monthly charge for verified Twitter accounts

by

SAN FRANCISCO: New Twitter head Elon Musk said Tuesday the site will charge USD 8 per month to verify users’ accounts, arguing the plan would solve the platform’s issues with bots and trolls while creating a new revenue stream for the company.

The announcement comes only days after the world’s wealthiest man took sole control of the social media giant in a contentious USD 44 billion deal.

“Power to the people! Blue for USD 8/month,” Musk, who has styled himself as a free-speech champion, tweeted, in reference to the platform’s paid subscription service, Twitter Blue.

Under the new plan, paid subscribers would receive Twitter’s famous blue checkmark that signals a verified, authentic account.

That feature is currently offered only to public figures, an approach Musk described as a “lords & peasants system.”

He said Twitter Blue subscribers would also receive “priority” placement in “replies, mentions & search,” which he called “essential to defeat spam/scam.”

There would also be expanded video abilities, fewer ads, and the possibility for users to get a “paywall bypass for publishers willing to work with us,” he said.

Twitter Blue currently allows users to access certain news sites for free and without ads, such as the Los Angeles Times.

“This will also give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators,” Musk tweeted.

Addressing the worries of some Twitter users that their blue check mark would lose its notoriety, he also announced “a secondary tag below the name for someone who is a public figure, which is already the case for politicians.”

The Twitter Blue service currently offers various other premium features, such as allowing subscribers to edit their tweets.

The new plan’s pricing, up from the current USD 5 per month, would be adjusted by country “proportionate to purchasing power parity,” Musk added in a reply to his original tweet.

Musk re-tweeted and replied to users praising the paid-verification idea, saying the move “will destroy the bots.”

“If a paid Blue account engages in spam/scam, that account will be suspended,” Musk wrote.

‘Need to pay the bills’

For users that currently have blue check marks, Musk is considering removing them if they do not pay for the new service, tech news outlet The Verge reported.

Some users warned that they would simply leave the site if they were made to pay.

The SpaceX and Tesla chief floated the $8 subscription fee idea earlier Tuesday in a tweet reply to author Stephen King, who was complaining about media reports that the verification service could cost USD 20 per month.

“We need to pay the bills somehow!” Musk responded.

“Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about USD 8?”

The proposal is only one part of a series of sweeping changes the 51-year-old entrepreneur has implemented at Twitter, with the entire board, including  CEO Parag Agrawal, let go last week.

The Washington Post has reported that Musk, whose account bio currently reads “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator,” plans to fire some 75 per cent of his company’s 7,500 employees.

Musk financed the massive deal through a mixture of his own wealth, money from other investment groups and loans from banks which will have to be reimbursed.

His previous comments condemning Twitter’s content moderation policies as heavy-handed — as well as his frequent posts of boundary-testing memes — has given pause to some advertisers, currently the company’s main source of revenue.

Some users have expressed fear Twitter could turn into a global stage for hate speech and disinformation.

He tried to calm the nerves by reassuring over the weekend that the site would not become a “free-for-all hellscape,” and announced the formation of a content moderation council.

However on Sunday, Musk himself tweeted an anti-LGBT conspiracy theory about what happened the night US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband was attacked, then hours later deleted the post.

Elon Musk said to begin laying off employees at Twitter: Report

by

New York: Elon Musk has planned to begin laying off employees at Twitter, according to a media report, days after he completed the USD 44-billion acquisition of the social media company.

The New York Times reported that Musk “planned to begin laying off workers” at Twitter as soon as on Saturday.

Citing people with knowledge of the situation, the report said that some managers were being asked to “draw up lists of employees to cut.” Ahead of Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, reports were circulating that he will cut headcount, with some reports saying 75 per cent of the workforce at the company could be laid off.

“Musk, who completed a USD 44-billion deal to buy Twitter on Thursday, has ordered the cuts across the company, with some teams to be trimmed more than others,” the NYT report said, adding that the “scale of the layoffs could not be determined” at the company, which has around 7,500 employees.

The NYT report said that the layoffs at Twitter “would take place before” the November 1 date when “employees were scheduled to receive stock grants as part of their compensation.

Such grants typically represent a significant portion of employees’ pay. By laying off workers before that date,” Musk “may avoid paying the grants.” Musk has told investors that he “would take Twitter private, reduce its work force, roll back its content moderation rules and find new revenue streams.” “Fresh baked bread & pastries are some of the great joys of life. Finally, the truth that carbs are amazing can be said on this platform!” with the hashtags “so brave” and “free speech,” he tweeted on Saturday.

Musk has said the social media company will form a “content moderation council” and any major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen after such a body has convened.

“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes,” Musk tweeted on Friday, a day after he completed the USD 44 billion-dollar acquisition of the social media company.

“To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies,” he added.

CEO Parag Agrawal, legal executive Vijaya Gadde, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and General Counsel Sean Edgett were ousted as Musk’s acquisition was completed. Within hours of taking over the reigns at Twitter, the Tesla CEO posted a series of tweets.

“The bird is freed”, “Spoiler Alert. Let the good times roll”, “Living the Dream. Comedy is now legal on Twitter”.

Agrawal, 38, was appointed Twitter CEO in November last year after the social media site’s co-founder Jack Dorsey had stepped down.

As the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump was permanently suspended in January last year, Hyderabad-born Gadde was at the forefront of this dramatic decision undertaken within days of the attempted insurrection by pro-Trump supporters at the US Capitol.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone thanked Agrawal, Segal and Gadde for their “massive contribution” to the business.

“Thank you to @paraga, @vijaya, and @nedsegal for the collective contribution to Twitter. Massive talents, all, and beautiful humans each!” Stone tweeted.

Musk arrived at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco on Wednesday and had been meeting with engineers and advertising executives.

He also updated his Twitter description to “Chief Twit.” The billionaire has promised to transform Twitter by loosening the service’s content moderation rules, making its algorithm more transparent and nurturing subscription businesses, as well as laying off employees.

In April, Twitter accepted Musk’s proposal to buy the social media service and take it private.

However, Musk soon began sowing doubt about his intentions to follow through with the agreement, alleging that the company failed to adequately disclose the number of spam and fake accounts on the service.

When Musk said he was terminating the deal, Twitter sued the billionaire, alleging he “refuses to honour his obligations to Twitter and its stockholders because the deal he signed no longer serves his personal interests.” Earlier in October, Musk said he wanted to pursue his acquisition of Twitter at the original price of USD 54.20 a share if the social messaging service dropped its litigation.

Twitter’s lawyers said that the Tesla CEO’s “proposal is an invitation to further mischief and delay.” A Delaware Chancery Court judge eventually ruled that Musk had until October 28 to cement the Twitter deal or head to trial.

On Thursday, Musk wrote a message to reassure advertisers that social messaging services wouldn’t devolve into “a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!” “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk said in the message.

“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far-right wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society,” he added.

Play Store policies: CCI slaps Rs 936.44 cr fine on google for abusing dominance

by

Play Store policies: CCI slaps Rs 936.44 cr fine on google for abusing dominance

New Delhi: In its second ruling against Google in less than a week, the Competition Commission on Tuesday slapped a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on the internet major for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies.

The regulator has also directed the company to cease and desist from unfair business practices as well as carry out various measures to address the anti-competitive issues within a defined timeline, according to an order.

This is the second major CCI ruling against Google in less than a week. On October 20, the watchdog imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on the company for abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in relation to Android mobile devices and ordered the internet major to cease and desist from various unfair business practices.

In a release on Tuesday, the Competition Commission of India (Commission) said it has imposed a penalty of Rs 936.44 crore on Google for abusing its dominant position with respect to its Play Store policies. The penalty amount translates to 7 per cent of the company’s average relevant turnover.

Google’s Play Store constitutes the main distribution channel for app developers in the Android mobile ecosystem, which allows its owners to capitalise on the apps brought to market.

The regulator noted that making access to the Play Store for app developers dependent on mandatory usage of GPBS (Google Play’s Billing System) for paid apps and in-app purchases constitutes an imposition of an unfair condition on app developers.

Apart from the penalty, CCI said Google should not restrict app developers from using any third-party billing/ payment processing services for purchasing apps.

There was no immediate comment from Google on the latest CCI order. On October 21, the internet major said it will review the order with respect to the Android devices matter.

Through the two orders passed in less than a week, the watchdog has imposed “provisional” penalties” totalling Rs 2,274.2 crore on Google. The latest ruling related to Google Play Store came on the last day of the tenure of CCI Chairperson Ashok Kumar Gupta.

In February 2018, the regulator imposed a fine of Rs 136 crore on Google for unfair business practices in the Indian market for the online search.

Currently, the regulator is probing Google in cases of alleged anti-competitive practices by Google with respect to news content and smart TV.

In the 199-page order on Tuesday, CCI flagged the issue of “glaring inconsistencies and wide disclaimers in presenting various data points by Google”.

“The Commission is constrained to observe that despite commanding enormous resources, Google has failed to provide the data in the manner sought by the Commission despite the grant of sufficient time, as sought by it.

“Be that as it may, in the interest of justice and with an intent of ensuring necessary market correction at the earliest, the Commission decides to proceed to quantify the provisional monetary penalties on the basis of the data presented by Google,” the order said.

Google has been directed to provide the requisite financial data within 30 days of receiving the order.

Similar observations were also made in the CCI’s ruling against Google in the Android matter.

According to the release on Tuesday, Google has been asked to implement various measures, including allowing and not restricting app developers from using any third-party billing/ payment processing services, either for in-app purchases or for purchasing apps.

“Google shall also not discriminate or otherwise take any adverse measures against such apps using third-party billing/ payment processing services, in any manner,” the release said.

Further, the internet major has been asked not to impose any anti-steering provisions on app developers as well as not restrict them from communicating with their users to promote their apps and offerings, in any manner.

Google should not restrict end users, in any manner, to access and use within apps, the features and services offered by app developers, the release said.

According to CCI, the company should set out a clear and transparent policy on data that is collected on its platform, the use of such data by the platform and also the potential and actual sharing of such data with app developers or other entities, including related entities.

Among other directions, the regulator has told Google that the competitively relevant transaction/consumer data of apps generated and acquired through GPBS should not be leveraged by the company to further its competitive advantage.

“Google shall also provide access to the app developer of the data that has been generated through the concerned app, subject to adequate safeguards, as highlighted in this order,” the release said.

Also, CCI has asked the internet major not to impose any condition on app developers, which is unfair, unreasonable, discriminatory or disproportionate to the services provided to the app developers.

As per the regulator, Google should ensure complete transparency in communicating to app developers, services provided, and the corresponding fee charged. Google shall also publish in an unambiguous manner the payment policy and criteria for the applicability of the fee.

“Google shall not discriminate against other apps facilitating payment through UPI in India vis-a-vis its own UPI app, in any manner,” it added.

Meanwhile, the watchdog said that recently Google has allowed rival UPI apps to be integrated with the intent flow.

Earlier in the day before CCI issued its order related to Google’s Play Store matter, the CCI Chairperson said the regulator has been pragmatic in levying and quantifying penalties as the enforcement actions are not divorced from business and economic realities.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella receives Padma Bhushan in US

by

Nasheman News

WASHINGTON: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has said it is an honour for him to receive the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award and he looks forward to continuing to work with people across India to help them use technology to achieve more.

Nadella, who plans to visit India next January, formally received the award for distinguished service, from India’s Consul General in San Francisco, Dr T.V Nagendra Prasad, last week.

The 55-year-old CEO of Microsoft was named one of 17 awardees earlier this year. On receiving the award, Nadella said: It’s an honour to receive a Padma Bhushan Award and to be recognised by so many extraordinary people.

“I’m thankful to the President, Prime Minister, and people of India, and look forward to continuing to work with people across India to help them use technology to achieve more.”

During the meeting, Nadella discussed with Prasad the critical role digital technology plays in empowering inclusive growth in India.

The discussion focused on India’s growth trajectory and the country’s potential to be a global political and technology leader, according to Microsoft.

” We are living in a period of historic economic, societal and technological change,” said Nadella following his meeting with Dr Prasad.

” The next decade will be defined by digital technology. Indian industries and organisations of every size are turning to technology to help them do more with less, which will ultimately lead to greater innovation, agility and resilience,”  Nadella said.

Hyderabad-born Nadella was named CEO of Microsoft in February 2014.

In June 2021 he was also named the company’s Chairman, an additional role in which he will lead the work to set the agenda for the board.

The Padma Awards are one of the highest civilian honours of India announced annually on the eve of Republic Day.

The Awards are given in three categories: Padma Vibhushan (for exceptional and distinguished service), Padma Bhushan (distinguished service of higher order) and Padma Shri (distinguished service).

The award seeks to recognise achievements in all fields of activities or disciplines where an element of public service is involved.

The Padma Awards are conferred on the recommendations made by the Padma Awards Committee, which is constituted by the Prime Minister every year.

Nadella plans to visit India in January 2023, his first visit to the country in nearly three years, Microsoft said.

Several Facebook users complain losing followers, Mark Zuckerberg too loses millions

by

Several Facebook users complain losing followers, Mark Zuckerberg too loses millions
Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg

New Delhi: Several users of Meta’s Facebook are complaining losing majority of their followers on the social media platform due to unknown reasons.

Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has lost over 119 million followers which has brought down his follower count to below 10,000.

“Facebook created a tsunami that wiped away my almost 900,000 followers and left only 9000 something on the shore. I kind of like Facebook’s comedy,” exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen tweeted.

When contacted, a Meta spokesperson said, “We’re aware that some people are seeing inconsistent follower count on their Facebook profiles. We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and we apologize for any inconvenience.”

KNOW US

GET INVOLVED

PROMOTE

Archives