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MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Announcement of the amount of the fine for Google is rescheduled for May 11, 2016. According to the press service of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), the decision was made due to the fact that Google has not received the notification of the time and place of the hearing.
"Due to the fact that Google Inc. has not yet received the notification of the time and place of the administrative proceedings, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service Commission decided to extend the deadline to May 11, 2016," the press service of FAS said.
In March 2016, FAS initiated administrative proceedings against Google to determine the amount of fine under part 2 article 14.31 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences. According to the article, abuse of dominant position on the market of operating systems for mobile devices in Russia, Google (the owner of the Android OS) can pay a fine ranging from 1% to 15% of its revenues on the Russian market in 2014.
According to the document, Google needs to submit information on the revenues from Google Play store and the products distributed with it in Russia in 2014 within five days after receiving the document. The corporation also needs to provide written explanations and other relevant information. In addition, Google representative must come to the agency on March 31 for questioning and signing the protocol on administrative offense.
In January 2016, Head of FAS Igor Artemyev said Russia’s competition law violation penalty for US Google Corporation will most likely amount to 7% of the turnover in 2014 with addressed inflation.
According to Artemyev, the fine will most likely be 7% of the annual turnover, subject to various factors and aggravating circumstances: protraction of process, etc.
On September 14, 2015, the Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled that Google Inc. and Google Ireland Ltd. had breached the competition protection law under the complaint of the Russian Internet company Yandex. According to the regulator, Google obliged manufacturers of Android OS-based devices to pre-install its applications together with Android platform. FAS said that Google’s policy restricted installation of applications by other developers. Google did not agree with the ruling and appealed to the court.
Google did not agree with FAS decision and appealed to the court. On February 5, 2015, the Court brought Yandex as a third party in the case and decided to hold hearings behind closed doors.
On March 14, the Moscow Arbitration Court has dismissed the lawsuit Google filed against Russia’s FAS.