Apple vs Competition Commission of India (CCI): What is the Fight All About?
This week, Apple moved to the Delhi High Court, challenging a new rule in India’s competition law. The rule allows CCI to impose fines based on a company’s global turnover, not just its India-specific revenue. Apple argues this is unfair and could lead to massive penalties.
Under the amended law (2023) and the new penalty guidelines (2024), a firm violating antitrust rules could face a fine up to 10% of its average global turnover over the past three years. In Apple’s case, that could mean up to US $38 billion if CCI uses global revenue for calculation.
Apple’s concern: the alleged violation involves only its App Store business in India, not its global operations. It argues penalizing the entire global revenue for a localized issue is arbitrary, disproportionate, and unconstitutional.
- Old rule vs new rule: Earlier, under India’s competition law, fines were calculated based on relevant turnover, the revenue tied to the product or service that broke the rules.
- Amendment changes the rule: In 2023, Parliament changed the definition. Now, turnover may mean global turnover from all products and services. This broad scope triggers huge liability for big global firms.
- CCI’s reasoning: For many tech giants with worldwide business, isolating India-specific revenue is difficult. So, CCI argues global turnover gives a realistic basis for penalties.
The Court Battle
The Delhi High Court has asked the Indian government and CCI to explain and justify how they plan to apply this law. The hearings are expected in early December 2025. If the court strikes down the global turnover rule, that could reshape how antitrust cases are handled in India for all global firms.
For Apple and many other big companies, the outcome could define future regulatory risk and compliance standards.
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