The Competition Commission of India is looking into accusations that Google is abusing its popular Android mobile operating system to block its rivals, four sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters .

The anti-trust commission has for the past six months been reviewing a case similar to one Google faced in Europe that led to a fine of €4.34 billion by anti-trust regulators last year, three of the sources said. Google, an unit of Alphabet Inc, has challenged that order.

The European Commission found Google had abused its market dominance since 2011 with practices such as forcing manufacturers to pre-install Google Search and its Chrome browser, together with its Google Play app store on Android devices.

“It is on the lines of the EU case, but at a preliminary stage,” said one of the sources.

Google declined to comment. The CCI did not respond to Reuters’ queries.

Google executives have in recent months met Indian antitrust officials at least once to discuss the complaint, which was filed by a group of individuals, one of the sources said.

The CCI could ask its investigations unit to further probe the accusations against Google, or throw out the complaint if it lacks merit. The watchdog’s investigations have historically taken years to complete.

Google’s offer

In October, Google said it would charge smartphone makers a fee for using its popular Google Play app store and also allow them to use rival versions of Android to comply with the EU order.

The change, however, covered only the European Economic Area, which comprises the 28 EU countries and Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

“The CCI will have a tough time not initiating a formal investigation into Google given the EU case, unless it can show the problem has been addressed (by remedies),” one of the sources said.

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