JAKARTA, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia's Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) has found U.S. tech giant Google LLC guilty of monopolistic practices in the Google Play Store and ordered the company to pay a fine of 202.5 billion rupiahs (around 12 million U.S. dollars).
Google requires application developers distributing their apps through the Google Play Store to implement the Google Play Billing System (GPB System). If developers fail to comply, their apps are removed from the store as a sanction. Additionally, Google charges a service fee of 15-30 percent for transactions processed through the GPB System.
The KPPU Board of Commissioners stated that Google's policy of mandating the use of Google Play Billing for all transactions in the Play Store has harmed application developers. The policy eliminates the option for developers to use alternative, competing payment systems, thereby reducing competition and choice.
"For this violation, the Commission Board imposed a fine of 202.5 billion rupiahs and ordered Google LLC to discontinue the requirement to use Google Play Billing in the Google Play Store," the KPPU announced on Wednesday.
In addition, the KPPU directed Google to reduce service fees by at least 5 percent and provide a bank guarantee for the fine. ■