An Indian tribunal on Wednesday declined Google's request for an interim stay on an antitrust ruling that ordered the tech giant to change its approach to its Android platform.
The Competition Commission of India in October fined Alphabet Inc's Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in markets such as online search and through the Android app store, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.
Earlier, Google said in a statement it decided to appeal the CCI's decision as it believes "it presents a major setback for our Indian users and businesses".
The Indian competition ruling came as Google faces increased antitrust scrutiny the world over. Google licenses its Android system to smartphone makers, but critics say it imposes restrictions that are anti-competitive.
The US firm says Android has created more choice for everyone and such agreements help keep the operating system free. In Europe, 75% of 550 million smartphones run on Android, compared with 97% of 600 million devices in India, Counterpoint Research estimates.
Playstore licensing issue
The CCI ruled in October that Google's licensing of its Play Store "shall not be linked with the requirement of pre-installing" Google search services, the Chrome browser, YouTube or any other Google applications.
In its appeal, Google alleges the CCI only found antitrust infringements related to the Google search app, Chrome browser and YouTube, but its order "extends beyond" that.
