China has officially fined a hefty sum against some tech giants. These companies have been fined for failing to report certain old deals. These deals date back from way back to 2012. In total, these tech giants have allegedly failed to report 43 such deals.
The Chinese market regulator on November 20, 2021, declared that they are fining companies who have failed to report such deals. These companies include Alibaba, JD.com and Baidu. According to the regulator, failing to report these deals have resulted in violation of anti-monopoly legislation.
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All the three companies involved in this case have each been fined a sum of CNY 500,000. In the Indian currency, this stands at roughly Rs. 58.15 lakhs. Moreover, this is the maximum amount anyone violating China’s 2008 Anti-Monopoly Law is liable to pay.
China has recently been working towards strengthening its grip on internet platforms. With the current fine on the above mentioned tech giants, China seems to be tightening this very grip. This has been done to prevent the abuse of market power and misuse of consumer’s data as well as any sort of consumer rights violation.
China Fined Tech Giants: What More?
As per the case, the earliest deal dates way back to 2012. This particular deal was an acquisition which involved Baidu and a fellow partner to the company. Fast forward to 2021, another such deal was the agreement between Baidu and Zhijang Geely Holdings, a Chinese automaker. This particular agreement was carried out towards the creation of a new energy vehicle enterprise.
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Talking about Alibaba’s involvement in the case, it includes the tech giant’s 2014 acquisition of AutoNavi. AutoNavi is a China-based digital mapping and navigation firm. In addition, Alibaba has also been fined for its purchase of 44 percent stake in Ele.me back in 2018. This made Alibaba the food delivery service provider’s biggest shareholder.
However, the regulator said that these deals did not result in eliminating competition. Further, nor did these deals restrict competition in any way. Still, it did infringe the law. This is not the first time something like this has happened to a tech giant. Last year itself, Alibaba, China Literature and Shenzhen Hive Box a sum of CNY 500,000 each for failure to report past deals.
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Sagnik Dasgupta
Tech enthusiast, gamer and somebody for whom music acts as a life capsule. Nothing fascinates me more than catchy headlines and John Mayer's guitar mastery.