Google Challenges Indonesian Court Ruling on Alleged Market Monopoly

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - LLC has challenged a ruling by the Jakarta Central District Court after the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) sanctioned the company Rp 202.5 billion for alleged market monopoly. The case is registered under number 1/Pdt.Sus-KPPU/2025/PN Jkt.Ps in the Case Information Retrieval System (SIPP).

Google filed its objection with the court on Friday, February 7, 2025. During a hearing on Tuesday, January 22, 2025, the KPPU Commission panel found Google guilty of requiring users to use Google Play Billing, a practice deemed detrimental to application developers.

Google Indonesia representatives previously rejected the KPPU's decision and announced plans to appeal. "We disagree with the KPPU decision and will pursue an appeal," a Google representative said in an official statement on Wednesday, January 22, 2025. Google maintains that its current policy benefits the Indonesian application ecosystem.

Google argues that its practices positively impact the Indonesian application ecosystem by fostering a healthy and competitive environment. They cite providing a secure platform, access to global markets, and a diversity of choices, including alternative user choice billing and Google Play.

Google also claims to actively support Indonesian developers through various initiatives outside of the platform, including the Indie Games Accelerator, Play Academy, and Play x Unity programs, stating these reflect their deep investment in their success.

The Commission panel determined that Google's Google Play Billing system violated the aspect of a business entity dominating its products or user base. The panel also concluded that Google used its dominant position to restrict the market and technological development in Indonesia.

The Google Play Billing case is being addressed by other competition authorities as well. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) fined Google Rs936.44 crore (approximately Rp1.76 trillion) in October 2022 for abusing its dominant position in its Play Store policy.

Following the CCI decision, Google suspended enforcement of Google Play Billing and appealed the ruling to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). That process is ongoing.

Additionally, the UK's Competition and Market Authority (CMA) conducted similar investigations starting on June 10, 2022. Google submitted commitment proposals, which the CMA rejected on August 21, 2024, effectively closing the case on administrative priority grounds.

Dian Rahma contributed to the writing of this article.

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