Indonesia’s antitrust agency has fined Google approximately 202 billion rupiah ($12.37 million) for monopolistic practices involving its payment system on the Google Play Store. The investigation, launched in 2022, revealed that Alphabet Inc.’s Google abused its dominant position by forcing Indonesian app developers to use Google Pay Billing at higher rates than other payment methods, threatening removal from the platform for non-compliance.
The agency found that Google’s payment system, which charged fees of up to 30%, reduced developers’ earnings and impacted user retention. With Google controlling 93% of the market share in Indonesia, a nation of 280 million people with a rapidly growing digital economy, the antitrust authority determined these practices violated the country’s monopoly laws.
Google Indonesia has yet to respond to requests for comment. The tech giant previously announced an alternative billing option for developers but continues to face global scrutiny for anti-competitive practices. In the past decade, Google has been fined over 8 billion euros by the European Union for similar violations involving its price comparison services, Android operating system, and advertising business.
Source: Swifteradio.com
