Google faces antitrust compliance review in India following Match Group complaint

Google’s ongoing feud with Match Group over in-app payments has spilled over to India, with potentially significant ramifications for the search giant. According to a regulatory order seen by Reuters, Match, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, joined a group of Indian startups this week to request that the Competition Commission of India investigate Google’s User Choice Billing system. The CCI is the same regulatory body that last year barred the tech giant from requiring OEMs to bundle first-party Google apps and services with Android. The order, which the company began to reluctantly implement at the start of the year, also mandates Google to support third-party billing options.

In a complaint it made with the Alliance of Digital India Foundation, Match argues Google’s new User Choice Billing system still imposes a high “service fee” between 11 and 26 percent on app developers. The company claims the cost of using the system means Google has not complied with the CCI’s previous order. Per Reuters, the watchdog said Friday it was “of the opinion that an inquiry needs to be made." The company now has four weeks to comply with an information request from the CCI. Google did not immediately respond to Engadget’s comment request. When Match sued the company last year over its Play Store billing policies, Google accused it of carrying out a “self-interested campaign to avoid paying for the significant value they receive” from the Android and Play Store ecosystems.