Google will appeal the decision of the Agcm, the competition and market authority, following the complaint of Enel X complaining of the exclusion from Android Auto of JuicePass (Enel X’s application for searching and booking charging stations for electric cars). “We are constantly working with regulators, and will continue to do so, but we strongly disagree with the AGCM’s findings. As a result, today we will appeal against this decision,” reads a post on Google’s blog.
Android Auto was created in 2015 to allow the driver to view the most used apps from an Android smartphone on the screen on the dashboard of their car, with the aim of reducing distractions and improving safety. “In doing so, we followed the directions and rules of major institutions and research from leading industry groups, such as the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers” and “we follow stringent design rules and rigorously test the types of apps that Android Auto can support “, it reads. Given that testing and research takes time and resources, the company explains that priority is given to the services considered most useful: “It would be impossible for us to satisfy every single request received from the companies and developers of the millions of Android apps. The developer community knows it well and respects this line “, explains Google in the note, in which the company says it was” enormously surprised when Enel X filed a complaint with the Agcm asking for its app for charging electric vehicles (JuicePass) to be integrated in Android Auto, when a category for this type of app was not yet available on our system “.
Google also clarifies that “people have always been able to download and use JuicePass on their Android smartphone”, but due to the small number of electric vehicles in 2018, this was not feasible via Android Auto. “Despite our efforts and our best intentions, last April the Agcm issued a decision that imposes a very high fine on Android Auto (over 100 million euros, ed), a service that Google offers for free. the ecosystem of Italian innovation, as well as the future of mobility and sustainability in the country, but forcing ourselves to give priority to services tailored to the specific requests of a company, to the detriment of the attention necessary for safety, preferences and needs of motorists, cannot be the right solution for the ambitious objectives that Italy has set itself in these sectors “, concludes the note.
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