India sets May 21 App Store hearing

India’s antitrust regulator has set May 21 for a final hearing in its case against Apple over App Store rules in India. (reuters.com) The Competition Commission of India said in an April 8 order that Apple had not submitted financial details or its views on the investigation since October 2024. The regulator still gave Apple two more weeks to respond. (reuters.com) That hearing is about penalties after investigators already concluded in 2024 that Apple abused its dominant position in the market for app stores on iOS in India. The report said Apple forced developers to use its in-app purchase system. (reuters.com 1) (reuters.com 2) In plain terms, the dispute is about who gets to handle payments inside iPhone apps and who collects the fee when a user buys digital goods. Apple’s system can require developers to use Apple’s checkout and pay commissions that critics say are too high. (reuters.com 1) (reuters.com 2) Apple has denied wrongdoing and argued it is a small player in India because Android phones dominate the broader smartphone market there. The company has also challenged India’s antitrust penalty law in the Delhi High Court. (reuters.com 1) (reuters.com 2) Apple told the court it could face a fine of as much as $38 billion if India calculates penalties using global turnover instead of India revenue. That figure comes from Apple’s own filing, not from a final penalty order. (reuters.com) The case began in 2021 after a complaint from the non-profit Together We Fight Society, and companies including Match Group and the Alliance of Digital India Foundation later backed the challenge. Those groups say Apple’s terms hurt developers, users and rival payment processors. (reuters.com) (reuters.com) India has become a more important Apple market while this case has moved through the system. Counterpoint Research told Reuters that iPhones reached about 9% market share in India, up from 4% two years earlier. (reuters.com) A May 21 hearing would not automatically rewrite App Store rules that day. It would close a key stage in a case that could end with a fine, conduct remedies, or both. (reuters.com) (reuters.com)