Google could face a fine of more than Rs 136 crore in CCI anti-trust investigation

Google might be looking at a fine that could exceed Rs 136 crore if the Competition Commission of India (CCI) finds the global search giant guilty of taking advantage of its market dominance to block access from rivals. [caption id=“attachment_6028491” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Google logo.[/caption] As reported by The Print, an anonymous source told them that the investigation could take about two years to complete apart from the potential penalty. The investigation started off after the case was filed by contracted employees of the CCI. Now, the investigation will be taken over by permanent employees of the 30-member watchdog team. The CCI had **launched the investigation back in April** and even though it called for a wider probe against Google, the company could still be cleared of any wrongdoing. Its basis was that pre-installing Google’s proprietary apps, the company “reduced the ability and incentive of device manufacturers to develop and sell devices operated on alternate versions of Android.” The investigation needs to be completed within 150 days according to the order. Google appealed against the order stating that the ruling could cause it “irreparable” harm and reputational loss.