Apple Fights India’s Global-Turnover Penalty Rule in High-Stakes Antitrust Battle
GeokHub
Contributing Writer
NEW DELHI, Dec 1 GeokHub — Apple is pushing back hard against India’s competition regulator, arguing in court that the country’s updated penalty rules are unfair and expose the tech giant to massive fines that go far beyond the scope of the case.
According to the Competition Commission of India (CCI), Apple may have abused its dominant position in the iOS app ecosystem by restricting app developers from using alternative payment systems. The investigation, which began in 2022, alleges that Apple’s in-app payment rules limited competition and forced developers into its own commission-based structure. Apple denies the accusations.
What has escalated tensions is India’s revised penalty framework, introduced in 2024. The new rule allows regulators to calculate fines based on a company’s global turnover if relevant local revenue is hard to determine — a change Apple says is “unconstitutional, arbitrary, and disproportionate.” Using global turnover instead of Indian market revenue could expose Apple to fines of up to $38 billion, even though the case concerns its business practices only within India.
Apple told the court the law gives regulators “excessive and unreasonable” power and risks punishing companies far beyond the scale of any alleged violation. The company is urging the Delhi High Court to strike down the global-turnover clause entirely.
The regulator, however, maintains that the updated rules are necessary to ensure strong enforcement in digital markets where traditional revenue definitions can be difficult to apply. Legal experts say Apple may face an uphill battle, but the outcome could set a major precedent for how India handles competition issues involving multinational technology firms.
A hearing on the matter is expected soon, and both sides are preparing for what could become one of India’s most consequential antitrust showdowns.
