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.

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.

New Delhi: The rupee fell by 12 paise to close at 82.33 against the US dollar on Wednesday due to sustained foreign fund outflows and a stronger dollar in the overseas markets.

Besides, risk aversion sentiment among investors ahead of the release of US Fed minutes and inflation data weighed on the local unit.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened lower at 82.32 and later fell further to 82.3750 against the American currency. It recovered some ground to close at 82.33, registering a decline of 12 paise over its previous close.

On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low to close 19 paise higher at 82.21 against the US dollar.

“In line with the dollar index, the rupee marked another steady day. So far this week, the rupee has been trading in a narrow range and closing near 82.32,” said Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.

Parmar said a rebound in the domestic equities and the central bank’s intervention ahead of the crucial retail inflation release supported the rupee on Wednesday.

In the near-term, spot USD/INR is expected to trade in the range of 82.10 to 82.80, Parmar noted.

Traders said investors remained cautious ahead of the release of key domestic macro data.

“Rupee traded in a narrow range in the last couple of sessions as investors remain cautious ahead of inflation numbers,” Motilal Oswal Financial Services said, adding that the central bank is yet to get surging inflation under control and will need to press forward with tightening monetary policy.

“Focus will be on the FOMC meeting minutes and hawkish comments are likely to strengthen the greenback.

According to Praveen Singh, AVP- Fundamental currencies and Commodities analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, “The domestic currency is trading with a loss of 0.10 per cent in the spot market as the traders await India’s inflation and industrial production data.”

On Thursday’s US CPI data will be of prime importance for the financial markets, though barring a big miss the US Dollar is expected to be well bid.

In twin blows to Indian economic revival, higher food prices drove retail inflation to a five-month high of 7.4 per cent while factory output fell for the first time in 18 months.

Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.01 per cent to 113.21.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.39 per cent to USD 94.66 per barrel.

On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share BSE Sensex advanced 478.59 points or 0.84 per cent to end at 57,625.91, while the broader NSE Nifty rose 140.05 points or 0.82 per cent to 17,123.60.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets as they offloaded shares worth Rs 542.36 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

NEW DELHI: A record over Rs 1.5 lakh crore worth of 5G telecom spectrum was sold in a seven-day auction ending on Monday, which saw billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio emerging as the top bidder to consolidate its leadership position.

Sources with direct knowledge of the matter said provisional data puts the total bids at Rs 1,50,173 crore.

The mop-up from the 5G spectrum, capable of offering ultra-high speed mobile internet connectivity, is almost double at Rs 77,815 crore worth 4G airwaves sold last year and triple of Rs 50,968.37 crore garnered from a 3G auction in 2010.

Reliance Jio was the top bidder to the airwaves capable of offering speeds about 10 times faster than 4G, lag-free connectivity, and can enable billions of connected devices to share data in real-time.

It was followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Ltd.

New entrant Adani group is said to have bought 26 Mhz spectrum for setting up a private telecom network.

The sources said details of which company bought how much spectrum would be known once the data from the auction is fully compiled.

Both Bharti and Jio have likely built a pan-India spectrum footprint for 5G, with Vodafone Idea’s selective participation.

The government had put on offer spectrum in 10 bands but received no bids for airwaves in 600 MHz, 800 MHz and 2300 MHz bands.

About two-thirds of the bids were for the 5G bands (3300 Mhz and 26 GHz), while more than a quarter of the demand came in the 700 Mhz band – a band that had gone unsold in the previous two auctions (2016 and 2021).

In the auction conducted last year – that had lasted two days – Reliance Jio picked up spectrum worth Rs 57,122.65 crore, Bharti Airtel bid about Rs 18,699 crore, and Vodafone Idea bought spectrum worth Rs 1,993.40 crore.

This year, a total of 72 GHz (gigahertz) of radiowaves worth at least Rs 4.3 lakh crore was put on the block.

The auction was held for spectrum in various low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands.

In addition to powering ultra-low latency connections, which allow downloading full-length high-quality video or movie to a mobile device in a matter of seconds (even in crowded areas), Fifth Generation or 5G would enable solutions such as e-health, connected vehicles, more-immersive augmented reality and metaverse experiences, life-saving use cases, and advanced mobile cloud gaming among others.

The auction garnered bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore on the first day on July 26, with subsequent days seeing only marginal incremental demand in some circles.

New Delhi: Internet major Google will invest USD 1 billion in telecom major Bharti Airtel which includes equity investment as well as a corpus for potential commercial agreements, to be identified and agreed on mutually agreeable terms over the course of the next five years.

Google made the investment as part of its Google for India Digitization Fund.

“This will comprise- USD 700 million equity investment in Bharti Airtel at a price per share of Rs 734,” Airtel said in a statement.

Out of the total investment, USD 300 million will go towards implementing commercial agreements, which will include investments in scaling Airtel’s offerings that covers a range of devices to consumers via innovative affordability programs as well as other offerings aimed at accelerating access and digital inclusion across India’s digital ecosystem, it added.

“Under the larger strategic goals of the partnership, both companies will also potentially co-create India-specific network domain use cases for 5G and other standards, with cutting-edge implementations,” the statement said.

NEW DELHI: Debt-ridden Vodafone Idea (VIL) has decided to opt for converting about Rs 16,000 crore interest dues liability payable to the government into equity which will amount to around 35.8 per cent stake in the company, as per a regulatory filing of the telecom firm.

If the plan goes through, then the government will become one of the biggest shareholders in the company which is reeling under a debt burden of about Rs 1.95 lakh crore.

“The board of directors, at its meeting held on 10th January, 2022, has approved the conversion of the full amount of such interest related to spectrum auction instalments and AGR dues into equity. The Net Present Value (NPV) of this interest is expected to be about Rs 16,000 crore as per the company’s best estimates, subject to confirmation by the DoT,” Vodafone Idea said in a regulatory filing.

The government has given telecom operators an option of paying interest for the 4 years of deferment on the deferred spectrum instalments and AGR dues by way of conversion into equity of the NPV of such interest amount.

VIL said that since the average price of the company’s shares at the relevant date of August 14, 2021 was below par value, the equity shares will be issued to the government at par value of Rs 10 per share, subject to final confirmation by the DoT.

“The conversion will therefore result in dilution to all the existing shareholders of the company, including the promoters.

Following conversion, it is expected that the government will hold around 35.8 per cent of the total outstanding shares of the company, and that the promoter shareholders would hold around 28.5 per cent (Vodafone Group) and around 17.8 per cent (Aditya Birla Group), respectively,” the filing said.

Shares of VIL were trading at Rs 12.55 apiece, down by 15.49 per cent compared to the previous, at the BSE in the morning hours.

New Delhi: After Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, India’s largest mobile operator Reliance Jio on Sunday announced up to 21 per cent hike in its prepaid tariffs from the next month.

Despite the increase in rates, Jio has kept the price of plans lower than Airtel and Vodafone Idea’s which is expected to continue pricing competition in the industry.

The company still has kept its lowest rate for 28 days validity plan at Rs 91 for Jiophone users which is the lowest among private telecom operators. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have increased the entry level plan with 28 days validity to Rs 99.

The tariff hikes entail JioPhone Plan, Unlimited Plans, and data add on, and range between 19.6 per cent and 21.3 per cent.

“In line with its commitment to further strengthen a sustainable telecom industry, where every Indian is empowered with a true digital life, Jio today announced its new unlimited plans. These plans will provide the best value in the industry,” Reliance Jio said in a statement.

The statement further said: “Upholding the Jio promise of providing the best-quality service at the lowest price globally, Jio customers will continue to be the biggest beneficiaries”.

The new unlimited plans will go-live on December 1, 2021, and can be opted from existing touchpoints and channels.

The company announced tariff hikes across 15 plans which include one for JioPhone users, 11 in unlimited category and three in data top up category.

In the unlimited plan category, Jio has increased the price of its cheapest plan with 28 days validity to Rs 155 from Rs 129.

The cheapest unlimited category with 84 days validity will be priced at Rs 395 instead of 329 at present.

The popular unlimited category plan offering daily 1.5 GB daily data usage with 84 days validity will go up by about 20 per cent to Rs 666 from Rs 555 at present.

The company has announced that its annual unlimited category plan offering 2 GB daily data usage at 4G speed will be priced at Rs 2,879 instead of 2,399 at present.

Airtel and Vodafone Idea last week announced up to 25 per cent hike in their prepaid plans tariffs to improve financials.

Several market analysts had said that the final assessment of the impact can be done only when Jio opens up its card on price hike.

Airtel and VIL have been maintaining that average revenue per user needs to go up in the range of Rs 200 to Rs 300 per month for sustaining business but they have been unable to hike tariff due to competitive pressure.

Jio ARPU in the second quarter ended September 30, 2021 was Rs 143.6 while that of Bharti Airtel and VIL in the same quarter was Rs 153 and Rs 109, respectively.

NEW DELHI: Luxury brand BMW on Tuesday launched the C 400 GT maxi-scooter, the most expensive scooter in India, at a price tag of Rs 9.95 lakh.  The C 400 GT is powered by a 34hp, 35Nm, 350cc, single-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine that is paired with a CVT gearbox. BMW claims that the C 400 GT manages 0-100kph in 9.5 seconds and has a top speed of over 139kph.

The scooter does not compete with other products in its segment in India. In Rs 10 lakh, one can easily buy a mid-level variant of any sub compact SUV and can even go for the base variant of popular SUVs such as Hyundai Creta and newly launched MG Astor.

The scooter gets a telescopic fork and preload adjustable dual shocks. For braking, BMW has equipped the model with dual discs at the front and a single disc at the rear.  The two-wheeler has a TFT dashboard with bluetooth connectivity, Automatic Stability Control (ASC) and dual-channel ABS as standard. The maxi-scooter rides on a 15-inch front (120/70 R15) and a 14-inch (150/70 R14) rear tyre. 

Loaded with a host of smart features
It has a TFT dashboard with bluetooth connectivity, automatic stability control and dual-channel ABS as standard. The maxi-scooter rides on a 15-inch front and a 14-inch rear tyre.