Apple has intensified its legal spat with the Competition Commission of India (CCI), accusing antitrust authorities of not conducting an impartial investigation into its App Store practices but instead relying on complaints from competitors.
The tech behemoth said in a June 25 response that the CCI’s conclusions were essentially a “copy-paste" of accusations made by rivals, such as Match Group and the Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF). Apple has requested that the investigation findings be set aside by the regulator as it is based on faulty logic and inadequate independent analysis.
The conflict revolves around Apple’s App Store policies, specifically its requirement that developers use the company’s in-app payment mechanism for digital purchases.
In a confidential study released in 2024, CCI investigators said that Apple had committed “abusive conduct" on the iOS operating system’s apps platform and had incorrectly mandated the usage of its payment system.
The claims have been refuted by Apple. It stated in its reply that it was a “minuscule player" with less than 6 percent of India’s smartphone market, and the findings of the probe were based more on the assertions of competitors than on the independent analysis of the CCI.
Any “forced alterations to Apple’s carefully designed App Store could disrupt its integrated business model," according to Apple, which also argued against any fines and behavioral remedies that might compel it to alter its strategy.
“The imposition of remedies would create regulatory uncertainty and could deter investments in India’s digital economy," the company continued.
Interestingly, the CCI has not been impressed by similar arguments made by other large corporations. Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, claimed in its antitrust lawsuit in 2023 that the CCI’s order might impede its expansion. However, the company was later compelled to alter the way it advertised its Android operating system, which is the market leader for smartphones in India.
On July 21, senior CCI officials are scheduled to hold a closed-door hearing with all parties involved in the case.
Apple created tables in its submission to contend that the CCI investigation team had “copy-pasted" numerous submissions from rivals in the case, including Match, Walmart’s Indian payments tool PhonePe, and Indian rival Paytm, rather than doing its own analysis.
“The DG (Director General) made no effort whatsoever to independently verify or critically assess these statements, often parroting them verbatim," Apple said.
Additionally, Apple claimed that despite India’s unique market dynamics, the CCI probe reports “blindly replicated" a visualization on global consumer expenditure on mobile apps and games from an EU verdict against Apple in 2024.
