The American corporation must pay a fine for refusing to place a third-party application for finding charging stations for electric vehicles in Italy on the Google Play Market
The Italian Antimonopoly Service has fined the American corporation Google €102 million euros.
Google received the fine from the Italian authorities for refusing to place an app for finding charging stations for electric vehicles on the Google Play store. The Office for the Protection of Competition and Market considers the company’s behaviour to be an abuse of dominant market position, the agency’s website says.
The Antitrust Authority also ordered, “Google to include the Enel X app in Android Auto for the use of electric vehicle recharging services.” The agency notes that according to its data, the American corporation “did not allow Enel X Italia to develop a version of its JuicePass application compatible with Android Auto.” Thus, Google “unfairly limited the ability for end consumers to use the Enel X Italia app while driving and recharging an electric vehicle.”
Officials in Italy point out that Google is in control of the market due to its Android operating system and Google Play store. In Italy, 75% of smartphones run on Android, which means Google can control developers’ access to the end-user. What, according to the anti-monopoly authorities, happened to the application for finding chargers for electric vehicles.
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