By Leah Montebello
Google will have to defend itself at trial over a £1bn consumer claim about Play Store, a competition judge has decided.
A Competition Appeal Tribunal ruling this week found that consumer champion Liz Coll is authorised to bring an opt-out collective claim against the tech giant for alleged competition infringements.
The Tribunal said that the size of the class allegedly harmed was “significant”, and that it was satisfied proposed class members can be “readily identified”.
It continued: “It is unlikely that any other form of litigation would provide a practical or proportionate way of pursuing their claims”.
Coll’s claim alleges Google breached law by excluding competition and/or charging an unlawfully high level of commission on digital purchases in their store, causing around 19.5m users to be overcharged.
According to the claim, any UK user of an Android smartphone or tablet who purchased paid apps, paid subscriptions or made other in-app purchases within the UK version of the Google Play Store at any point since October 1 2015 is potentially entitled to compensation from Google for its alleged anti-competitive practice.
Coll is seeking compensation on a collective basis for impacted users, which could set the company back £920m in damages.
“The Tribunal has further reiterated that it made the right decision in July, and this should be welcomed by Android and Google Play Store users UK-wide, who are now one step closer to obtaining the redress I say is owed to them,” Coll said.
“For over a year Google has fought this claim hard, and we expect it will continue to do so. They have profited from dominating the systems used by half of all UK smartphone users.”
The Competition and Markets Authority is running a separate investigation into Google’s practices, as are authorities in the Netherlands, Australia, South Korea, India, and more.
In response to the judgment, a Google spokesperson told City A.M.: “Android gives people more choice than any other mobile platform in deciding which apps and app stores they use — in fact most Android phones come preloaded with more than one app store.
We compete vigorously and fairly for developers and consumers – 97% of developers on Google Play don’t pay any service fee at all, which means their apps are free to consumers. As a result of recent changes, 99% of developers now qualify for a service fee of 15% or less.”
They said the lawsuit ignores the benefits and choice Android and Google Play provide.
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