Apple trying to stall India antitrust case by challenging penalty law, watchdog says

By Arpan Chaturvedi NEW DELHI, Dec 1 (Reuters) – Apple is seeking to block antitrust proceedings in India by challenging a law that allows penalties to be calculated on global turnover, the country's competition regulator said, escalating tensions between New Delhi and the U.S. tech giant. The iPhone maker last month challenged India's antitrust penalty law which allows the regulator to use global turnover when calculating the penalties, calling the legislation one that could lead to disproportionate fines for cases where the breach occurred only in India. Apple argued it risks facing a fine of up to $38 billion after it was found to have breached laws in a case where Tinder-owner Match and Indian startups succeeded in convincing the watchdog the tech firm's in-app fee hurts smaller players, and is anti-competitive. A final decision on the case, including the fine, is still pending. On Monday, a lawyer for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) accused Apple of trying to "stall the proceedings" dating back to 2021. Apple’s counsel urged the court to prevent the regulator from taking coercive steps. Judges at the Delhi High Court asked the CCI to file a detailed response to Apple's arguments. Apple denies wrongdoing, saying it is a smaller player than Google's dominant Android platform. The dispute centres on a 2024 amendment that lets CCI use global turnover, not just India revenue, to calculate penalties. In a private submission to the CCI, reported by Reuters in October, Match argued a fine based on global turnover could "act as a significant deterrent against recidivism". (Reporting by Arpan Chaturvedi; Editing by Aditya Kalra, Christian Schmollinger and Louise Heavens)

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