JAKARTA, Jan 22 — Indonesia's antitrust agency has ordered Google to pay fines of about 202 billion rupiah (RM55.2 million) for unfair business practices related to its payment system services for Google Play Store, its software distribution platform.
The agency launched an investigation into Alphabet Inc's Google in 2022 on suspicion it had abused its dominant position by requiring Indonesian app developers to use Google Play Billing, at higher rates than other payment systems, or face removal from the Google Play Store.
In a hearing yesterday, it said that the systems reduced developers' earnings as they led to the reduction of users, adding Google has been found breaking Indonesia’s law against monopoly.
The agency found that Google had charged a fee of up to 30 per cent via Google Play Billing, the panel said.
It added that Google controlled a 93 per cent market share in the country of 280 million people which has a fast-growing digital economy.
— Reuters
