Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) on Thursday slapped Google with a $6.7 million fine for violating the country’s competition laws with its Android practices.
According to an earlier announcement from the FAS, the fine represents between one percent and 15 percent of Google Play’s 2014 sales in the country.
Head of the Communications Regulatory Authority and the Office of Information FAS Russia Elena Zaeva in a statement said the FAS believed its actions against Google would aid the development of a competitive mobile software environment in Russia.
The fine follow’s the FAS’s September finding that Google had abused its dominant role in the market to force the installation its own applications – including Google Play – on Android phones. FAS officials said Google’s actions also led to a ban on certain preset applications from other developers.
Google appealed the finding, but was shot down by Moscow’s Arbitration Court in March, which said it “fully supported” the FAS decision. An appeal of the FAS’s corrective action plan is scheduled to continue on August 16, Bloomberg reported.
To avoid further fines, Google will have to alter its contracts with device manufacturers to eliminate its “anticompetitive requirements,” the FAS said. The company could face further fines if violations continue, the FAS said.
Filed Under: Industry regulations
