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Apple Sues to Block India’s Global-Turnover Antitrust Fines, Citing $38 Billion Risk

A Delhi bench will hear the 545-page petition on December 3 to set a key test for India’s overhauled competition regime.

Overview

  • Apple’s filing contests the 2023 amendment to Section 27(b) and the CCI’s 2024 Monetary Penalty Guidelines that allow fines to be based on worldwide revenue.
  • The company estimates a maximum exposure of about $38 billion at 10% of average global turnover and urges penalties be limited to India revenue of the offending unit.
  • Apple says the CCI applied the new rule retrospectively in an unrelated November 10 case, prompting its constitutional challenge to prevent similar treatment.
  • The petition is linked to a CCI probe opened in 2022 into App Store practices; investigators reported ‘abusive conduct,’ but no final decision or penalty has been issued.
  • The case is listed before Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela on December 3, with observers noting India’s approach echoes EU global-turnover fines and could affect other multinationals.