The US internet giant has faced legal scrutiny in a number of countries over its stipulation that its billing system must be used by all purchasers on Google Play.
Jakarta authorities said in a statement that they suspected “Google of having abused its dominant position by imposing conditional sales and discriminatory practices in the distribution of digital applications in Indonesia”.
Google Play is the largest application distribution platform in Indonesia, a country of approximately 270 million people.
Third-party developers offering their apps on Google Play are charged service fees of 15-30%, higher than the 5% imposed by other payment systems, according to an initial investigation by the national anti-trust agency.
“The respective developers cannot opt out of the requirement as Google may impose penalties by removing their apps from the Google Play Store and preventing them from updating their apps,” the agency said.
Google Indonesia said on Friday it would work with Indonesian authorities “to demonstrate how Google Play supports developers.”
He added that since the beginning of this month, he has launched a pilot billing system, allowing an alternative payment system to that used on Google Play.
The American multinational has faced a deluge of legal cases in the United States, Europe and Asia based on similar accusations.
Google has also been accused of unfairly imposing its Chrome search engine and internet browser on manufacturers of phones using the Android operating system.
On Wednesday, the second highest court in the European Union ruled that “Google imposed unlawful restrictions on manufacturers of Android mobile devices”.
Court upheld record EU fine of more than four billion euros ($4 billion) against Google
The case was the third of three major cases brought against Google by EU competition czar Margrethe Vestager, whose legal challenges were the first in the world to directly attack Silicon Valley tech giants. .
South Korea fined Google nearly $180 million last year for abusing its dominant market position in a similar case involving the Android system.
