Apple Accuses Indian Antitrust Body of Copy-Pasting Rival Claims in App Store Probe

*Apple has asked the Competition Commission of India to discard its 2024 findings on App Store practices, claiming the regulator simply repeated assertions supplied by competitors.*

The filing

Apple submitted its response to the CCI on June 25. In the document the company states that investigators failed to perform their own analysis and instead reproduced claims made by opponents. The submission asks the commission to set aside the entire set of conclusions.

The CCI’s earlier report had found that Apple engaged in abusive conduct by requiring developers to use its own payment system. Apple denies the finding and points out that it holds less than 6 percent of the Indian smartphone market.

Opponents and prior steps

Match and a group of Indian startups have pressed the case against Apple’s billing rules. The CCI investigators reached their conclusions in 2024 after examining those complaints. Apple now argues that the regulator treated the complaints as established fact without additional verification.

The company describes itself as a minor participant in the local market and contends that the investigation did not establish independent evidence of harm to competition.

Why it matters

The dispute shows how antitrust actions in smaller markets can rest on limited local data and heavy reliance on statements from interested parties. If the CCI accepts Apple’s argument, the existing findings would lose force and any remedies tied to them would stall. If it rejects the argument, the commission would signal that it views the record as sufficient on its own terms. Either outcome will shape how similar complaints against platform billing rules are handled in India and other emerging markets.

The next procedural step is the CCI’s review of Apple’s June 25 submission.

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Sources:

• 9to5Mac
• MacRumors

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