New Delhi: US-based technology giant Google on Thursday lost its long-running legal challenge against a 4.1-billion euro (about $4.7 billion) European Union antitrust fine after the bloc’s highest court upheld the penalty over the company’s Android business practices. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has dismissed the appeal filed by Google and its parent company, Alphabet, against an earlier ruling by the EU’s General Court, effectively confirming the reduced antitrust fine imposed by the European Commission.

“The appeal brought by Google and its parent company Alphabet against the judgment of the General Court is dismissed, thereby confirming the penalty imposed for Google Search’s abuse of a dominant position in the context of the Android operating system,” the ECJ said in a statement.

The case dates back to 2018, when the European Commission imposed what was then a record antitrust fine on Google, accusing the company of using Android to strengthen the dominance of its search engine.

According to the Commission, Google required smartphone manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and the Chrome browser as a condition for licensing its Play Store.

In addition, it alleged that the company made payments to certain manufacturers and mobile operators on the condition that they exclusively pre-installed Google Search and prevented device makers from selling phones running alternative versions of Android that had not been approved by Google. In 2022, the EU’s General Court largely upheld the Commission’s findings but reduced the fine from 4.3 billion euros to 4.1 billion euros after ruling that regulators had not sufficiently established one aspect of the alleged abuse.

Responding to Thursday’s verdict, Google said the ruling fails to recognize our significant investment to ensure Android remains open, interoperable and free, according to reports.

The company added that it had already modified its agreements in 2018 to comply with the Commission’s original decision and would continue to focus on innovation and openness for users, partners and developers.

The Android case was one of several major antitrust investigations launched by the European Commission into Google’s business practices and remains one of the bloc’s biggest competition enforcement actions against a global technology company.

–IANS