Tinder owner Match says Apple fee will stifle growth in India

By Aditya Kalra NEW DELHI (Reuters) -An Apple fee of up to 30% in India will over time stifle revenues for Match, the owner of dating app Tinder, it said in its submission to the Indian antitrust body, adding that hefty fines were needed to protect its business. Tinder is one of the biggest players in the Indian dating apps market, which will be worth an estimated $1.42 billion by 2030, according to advisory firm MarketNtel. Since 2022, Match has been locked in an antitrust battle with Apple at the Competition Commission of India, where investigators last year issued a report saying the U.S. smartphone company had engaged in "abusive conduct" on the apps market of its iPhone Operating System, iOS. Apple has denied wrongdoing and said it is a small player in India where phones mostly use Google's Android system. It did not respond to a request on Friday for comment.  Match and the CCI also did not respond to Reuters queries.  In a response dated October 13 to the CCI investigators' findings, which Reuters is the first to report on, Match urged the watchdog to issue final directives asking Apple to discontinue its anti-competitive practices. "Apple's policies adversely affect the return on capital and revenue streams of Match’s portfolio brands," Match said in its submissions, reviewed by Reuters. "In the long term, the constraints and excessive fee imposed by Apple will stifle the growth and scalability of Match’s portfolio brands," it added, without quantifying the impact. As Apple faces antitrust scrutiny across the world, on Thursday, a London tribunal ruled it abused its dominant position by charging app developers unfair commissions. 'TINDER AND UBER BOTH OFFER MATCHMAKING' Apple's smartphone base has become four times larger in the last five years in India. Its iOS powered an estimated 4.5% of 735 million smartphones in India as of mid-2025, with the rest using Android, Counterpoint Research says.  The CCI has powers to fine Apple up to 10% of its global average turnover for the last three financial years.  Such a fine based on global turnover, not Indian, could "act as a significant deterrent against recidivism," Match said in its submission. The CCI investigation team found last year that Apple was not permitting any third-party payment processor to provide the services for in-app purchases, where the fee could be up to 30%. Match's latest submission cited discriminatory treatment, saying Uber's ride-hailing app was classified by Apple as providing physical goods, and was charged lower commission than Tinder, which is treated as providing digital services. "Tinder and Uber both offer matchmaking services in essence," Match said in its filing. In April, the EU watchdog said Apple must remove restrictions that prevent app developers from steering users to cheaper deals outside the App Store, and fined the company 500 million euros ($583 million). Apple in June changed its App Store rules to comply with the EU order. (Reporting by Aditya Kalra; additional reporting by Munsif Vengattil; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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