Competition Commission of India 

• Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002.
• The following are the objectives of the Commission.
  • To prevent practices having adverse effects on competition.
  • To promote and sustain competition in markets.
  • To protect the interests of consumers and
  • To ensure freedom of trade
• CCI consists of a Chairperson and 6 Members appointed by the Central Government.

Why in News?

• The Competition Commission of India is looking into allegations that Alphabet Inc’s Google is abusing its market position to unfairly promote its mobile payments app in the country.
• The complaint alleges google more prominently showcases its Google Pay app inside its Android app store in India, giving it an unfair advantage over apps of competitors, which hurts consumers.

Previous instances

• This is Google’s third major antitrust challenge in India. In 2018, the CCI fined Google $21 million for “search bias”, but a company appeal against that is pending.
• Last year, the CCI also started probing Google for allegedly misusing its dominant position to reduce the ability of smartphone manufacturers to opt for alternate versions of its Android mobile operating system.