Russia Says Google Is Now Complying With Antitrust Laws

JAKARTA - Russia's antitrust watchdog (FAS) stated on Tuesday, September 6 that Google has taken action to correct violations of antitrust laws on its Google Play app store.

"After analyzing the company's actions, the agency found that Google has removed signs of violation of antitrust laws," Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said.

The FAS said in July that it had fined Google 2 billion rubles (IDR 492 billion) for violating competition rules.

It is not yet clear what kind of improvements Google has made so that it is considered to have ended its monopoly in Russia. But this is most likely related to Google's policy of expanding its "User Preferred Billing" trial to allow more non-gaming Android app developers to offer third-party payment options as an alternative to Google Play.

Starting September 1, registered developers from the European Economic Area (EEA), India, Japan, Indonesia and Australia can participate in User Preferred Billing. Even Russia might be in it.

Google argues that 99 percent of developers using the company's own Play Store billing are eligible for the 15 percent service charge rate. But Spotify is the revenue-generating world that pays Google the 30 percent up for grabs on every in-app purchase.

Last May, Google was sued by Match Group's Tinder app from the Netherlands for being accused of monopolizing its app store.

The same is true in South Korea, where Google and Apple are seen as monopolizing app stores and are required to open payments from third parties in their app stores.