India’s CCI closes antitrust case against Google over real-money gaming
The CCI has ended proceedings due to India’s ban on online money games.
India.- The Competition Commission (CCI) has closed an antitrust investigation into Google’s approach to real-money gaming apps due to the new legislation prohibiting online money games. The investigation began in 2022 after a complaint by WinZO Games over Play store policies.
WinZO Games accused Google of abusing its dominant position through the Play Store and Google Ads guidelines. The company argued that a pilot programme allowing only daily fantasy sports and rummy apps on the app store excluded other real-money gaming products.
The CCI began a detailed investigation in November 2024 after finding prima facie grounds to assess whether Google’s policies violated competition rules. During the proceedings, Google proposed expanding access to permitted skill-based real-money games and their advertising, subject to a certification process.
The dispute changed after Google ended its real-money gaming pilot and stopped accepting related advertising in January. WinZO asked to withdraw its complaint at a hearing on August 25, but the CCI said the request did not automatically require the case to be closed. However, the CCI has concluded that pursuing the investigation would have no practical purpose because the relief pursued in the original complaint was no longer available under the new legal framework.
The regulator left open the possibility of revisiting the matter if the gaming law is stayed, overturned or repealed and the practices alleged by WinZO resume.
