Post by : Rameen Ariff

Apple has filed a legal challenge in India against the country’s new antitrust penalty law, which could potentially impose fines of up to $38 billion on the US tech giant. The case was filed at the Delhi High Court and marks the first challenge against the 2024 law, which allows India’s Competition Commission (CCI) to calculate penalties based on a company’s global turnover, not just revenue in India.

The dispute comes amid Apple’s ongoing battles with India’s CCI, where it has been investigated since 2022 for allegedly abusing its market dominance in the iPhone app market. Apple has denied any wrongdoing, and the CCI has not yet issued a final penalty.

In its court filing, Apple argued that applying global turnover to calculate fines is “arbitrary, unconstitutional, and grossly disproportionate.” The company explained that its “maximum penalty exposure” under the new law, calculated at 10% of its global revenue for the past three fiscal years, could reach around $38 billion. Apple said this method is unfair because it punishes the company globally for a violation limited to India.

Apple also cited the retrospective application of the law as another reason for its legal challenge. The company argued that the CCI recently applied the new rules to a violation that occurred a decade ago, which it believes is unjust.

The tech giant highlighted that it has grown in India but remains a smaller player compared to Google’s Android, which dominates the local smartphone market. Apple also pointed out examples to illustrate its argument, saying penalizing its total global turnover for a violation by a specific business unit is like fining a stationery business for the revenue of its unrelated toy division.

The court is scheduled to hear Apple’s plea on December 3. Legal experts note that it may be challenging to convince the court to overturn the law, which clearly allows the CCI to consider global turnover when calculating penalties.

This case has drawn attention because it tests the limits of India’s antitrust framework and the CCI’s power to impose substantial fines on global companies operating in India.

#Global News