Apple India antitrust hearing set

India’s antitrust regulator has set a final hearing for Apple on May 21 after saying the company still has not handed over financial data needed for a penalty decision. (moneycontrol.com) In an April 8 order, the Competition Commission of India said Apple had not submitted its financials or its views on the investigation since October 2024. The regulator said Apple instead pointed to a separate case in the Delhi High Court challenging India’s antitrust penalty law. (moneycontrol.com) The immediate dispute is not a fresh ruling on whether Apple broke the law. It is about whether the regulator can move ahead on penalties without numbers Apple would normally provide for that calculation. (reuters.com) That penalty question sits on top of a longer App Store case. A Competition Commission investigation found in 2024 that Apple abused its dominant position in the market for app stores on iOS in India by requiring developers to use its in-app purchase system. (reuters.com) Apple has denied wrongdoing and argued it is a small player in India’s smartphone market, where Android devices dominate overall handset sales. India’s regulator, though, examined Apple’s position inside the iPhone ecosystem rather than across all phones. (reuters.com) The case began in 2021 after a complaint from the non-profit Together We Fight Society. Match Group, the owner of Tinder, and a coalition of Indian startups later backed the challenge to Apple’s App Store rules and fees. (reuters.com) The Competition Commission typically seeks revenue data before fixing fines, and Apple has warned in court filings that using global turnover could expose it to a penalty of as much as $38 billion. That figure reflects Apple’s challenge to the legal method, not a fine the regulator has already imposed. (reuters.com) Apple has also fought over access to evidence in the case. In March 2025, it won an order blocking Match and Indian startup groups from seeing commercially sensitive information contained in the investigation record. (reuters.com) What happens on May 21 will help determine the timetable for any penalty order and whether Apple can keep the case tied to its Delhi High Court challenge. For now, India’s regulator is treating Apple’s response itself as the issue in front of it. (moneycontrol.com)