Indian Competition Watchdog Urges Google to Explain Antitrust Practices

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has completed an investigation into the Internet giant Google's alleged abuse of its position as a search engine in the country and has called on the company to explain its actions, CCI Joint Director Shiv Ram Bairwa told Sputnik.

NEW DELHI (Sputnik) — The CCI director general filed a report last week, accusing US-based Google of violating a number of competition regulations by displaying its own content in search results ahead of other sources with higher ratings.

"We have completed our investigation and have asked Google to explain. This month they have to explain before a board chaired by our chairperson, then we will make final decision," Bairwa said.

His statement came shortly after Google denied allegations made by the European Commission over the company's violations of EU antitrust laws, on Thursday.

On April 15, the European Commission sent a formal objection to Google after a four-year investigation, accusing the company of skewing search results in favor of its own content, and opened a separate probe into tech giants, including Google, later that month.

Google General Counsel Kent Walker denied the allegations of rigging search results last week, saying the company's search engine was "designed to provide the most relevant results and most useful ads for any query."

According to media reports, Google must respond to the CCI request by September 10. CCI may fine the company by up to 10 percent of its income. Google reported a net income of over $14 billion in 2014.