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India Dismisses Complaint Alleging Gmail-Meet Integration Hurts Competition

By  |  February 2, 2021

The Competition Commission of India has dismissed a case which alleged that Google’s integration of its videoconferencing service Meet with the Gmail App amounted to anti-competitive behavior.

The case was filed by Baglekar Akash Kumar, a student at Hyderabad’s Osmania University, against Google and Google India alleging contravention of the Competition Act. Kumar claimed that Google was dominant in the “internet-related services and products” and the Gmail app was dominant in the “email and direct messaging market.” The company’s integration of Meet with Gmail amounted to abuse of dominant position in one relevant market to enter another, which amounts to a violation under Section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act, Kumar claimed.

However, the Commission ruled that users can choose between either of the apps with all functions, without having to use the other. Further, although the Google Meet tab has been integrated with the Gmail app, users are not coerced to use Meet exclusively, and are free to use any other video conferencing app.

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