India’s competition regulator has moved the Apple antitrust case closer to a final hearing, after the company reportedly failed to provide financial data that could help determine any penalty. The request comes as the case moves into its punishment phase, with the Competition Commission of India seeking the figures it says are needed to calculate possible sanctions.
A Reuters review of an April 8 order showed that Apple had still not submitted the financial details or responded to the investigation report issued in October 2024. The regulator has now set a final hearing for May 21, while giving Apple an additional two weeks to file its reply.
Why the missing financial data matters
The CCI commonly asks for financial information when it weighs potential fines in competition cases. In this dispute, the regulator has already indicated that Apple had enough opportunity to raise objections, submit suggestions, and provide the documents requested during the process.
That position matters because the case is no longer limited to whether Apple violated competition rules. It has also become a question of how any penalty would be measured if the regulator proceeds with sanctions.
Legal experts cited in the report said the accelerated hearing timetable could leave Apple with less room to contest the size of any fine if the company continues to withhold the figures. Gautam Shahi, a partner in the antitrust practice at Dua Associates, said Apple could still submit financial statements supported by an auditor’s certificate and continue arguing over the penalty amount at the hearing. Without that step, its arguments about the sanction would be narrower.
Apple’s challenge to the process
Apple has denied wrongdoing in the matter. At the same time, the company has warned that it could face a penalty of as much as $38 billion if regulators use global turnover as the basis for calculating the fine.
The company has also pointed to a separate case before the Delhi High Court, where it is challenging India’s broader antitrust penalty rules and asking for the CCI process to be paused. That request was not accepted. The commission instead said Apple appeared to be slowing the case by contesting the penalty framework while holding back the financial information requested in the main proceeding.
In March, Apple also asked for the CCI case to be placed in abeyance until the Delhi High Court reviewed its challenge. The regulator rejected that request as well and kept the case moving forward.
How the dispute began
The case traces back to 2021, when a nonprofit group first challenged Apple’s practices. Match, the owner of Tinder, later joined the objections, along with several Indian startups.
CCi investigators issued a report in 2024, concluding that Apple had abused a dominant position in the app market by requiring developers to use its own in-app purchase system. That finding now forms the core of the case heading into the sanction stage.
Apple has continued to reject the accusation and argues that its position in India is limited because Android devices from Google dominate the country’s smartphone market. Even so, India remains an important market for the company.
According to Counterpoint Research, iPhone market share in India rose to 9 percent from 4 percent two years earlier. That growth has added weight to a dispute that now touches not only Apple’s App Store model, but also the company’s expanding influence in one of the world’s largest phone markets.
Reuters reported that neither Apple nor the CCI responded to requests for comment on the latest development, leaving attention on whether the financial data will arrive before the final hearing and shape how the potential sanction is assessed.
Source: www.gadgets360.com