The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has recently dismissed a complaint that alleged that Google abused its dominant position as a major platform. The plea by Baglekar Akash Kumar, a 5th-year law student, stated that Google’s integration of Google Meet into Gmail goes against the provisions of Section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act.
Due to the ongoing pandemic, most company meetings and conferences were happening virtually, thus enabling Google to use its dominant position in E-mail services to enter and influence the video conferencing sector.
The Commission examined the complaint and stated that Google does not force its users to use Google Meet, and there were no consequences for not using it. A Gmail user had the free will to use any video conferencing app they wish like Zoom, Skype, Cisco Webex, We Conference, Microsoft Teams.
Also, since Google Meet is available as an independent app and so any E-mail ID from any platform can be used other than Gmail to make an account. Therefore, the Commission stated that regardless of Google’s status, it did not violate provisions of Section 4(2)(e) of the Act.
