Apple Orders India to Drop Antitrust Charges

India says Apple abused its dominant iOS app market share

In 2021, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) began investigating a group company called “Together We Fight Society” over its App Store fees and policies. In July 2024, the CCI announced that it had concluded that Apple had a “significant influence” over digital products and services.

The CCI stated this in a 142-page report, which noted that “app developers have no choice but to comply with Apple’s unfair terms.” Crucially, however, the full report has not been released — but that is the reason Apple was able to force the CCI to drop the charges.

Because according to BloombergApple claims the report contains what it describes as privileged and confidential information. That’s clearly enough to say the report won’t be released more widely than other regulators, but that’s reportedly more important than the CCI having to redact some parts.

Apple’s complaint about confidential information comes at a post-investigation stage, when the accused can respond before India decides whether to impose fines. India will not proceed to the fines stage now, and it is reportedly possible that it may even have to restart the investigation.

Neither the CCI nor Apple has commented on the matter. However, during the investigation, Apple also objected, saying its market share in India is “negligible”, not exceeding 5%.