India Pushes for Apple App Store Antitrust Case in the Country After a Request to Hold

The largest South Asian country, India, remains stern on its plans to pursue its antitrust case against Apple after turning down its request to investigate its anti-competitive behavior in the nation. This means that Apple's antitrust case against iOS' App Store dominance in the country and for allegedly exploiting its significant position to undermine its customers, developers, and more.

It was revealed that this case against Apple dates back to 2021, but Cupertino wanted India to suspend the investigations for now as the Indian watchdog reportedly shared 'commercial secrets' with other companies.

India Pushes for Apple App Store Antitrust Case

India's regulator, the Competition Commission of India (CCI), recently denied Apple's request to hold the country's investigation regarding the antitrust complaint against the company, Reuters reported. This was revealed by a recently seen internal order from the Indian watchdog by the news publication after Cupertino asked the country's authorities to "withhold the revised report."

This follows up on India's antitrust complaint against Apple that stems back to three years ago which also involved another Big Tech company, Match, best known as the owner of the online dating site, Tinder.

Because of this, India's CCI senior officials are now moving toward reviewing the investigation report on Apple and making their decisions on the final ruling that will conclude the antitrust case in the country.

Apple Wants India to Suspend Investigations

According to the report, Apple wants India to suspend reviewing the investigation report as Cupertino previously complained against the main plaintiff, Together We Fight Society (TWFS), an Indian non-profit. Cupertino claimed that TWFS did not comply with the directives to ensure that old investigation reports were destroyed.

Moreover, Apple complained about the CCI for disclosing 'commercial secrets' to competitors that should have been redacted, and the second most valuable company argued against taking action against TWFS for non-compliance.

As per the CCI's investigation, Apple was said to have 'exploited' its dominant position on the market on iOS app stores, but Cupertino brushed off these allegations claiming that Google and Android are the more dominant in the country.

Apple App Store Antitrust Complaints

Apple and its App Store dominance have been a massive focus by global authorities for its alleged anti-competitive behavior and monopolistic tactics that hurt its users, developers, and partners in the process. In the United States alone, it is expected that Apple will have to fight for its business 'for many years' against the Justice Department for its 'iPhone dominance' which trumps the competition.

Moreover, the ramping Digital Markets Act (DMA) from the European Commission is one of the top threats against Apple's operations in the region, particularly as it previously asked Cupertino to apply changes to its business or face significant fines. It is known that Apple has been given a 'gatekeeper' status for its operations, including its App Store dominance that long prevented third-party payment platforms and app marketplaces for EU users.

That being said, Apple is also facing hot waters over at Asia with Japan and South Korea's ramping campaign against Cupertino's monopolistic behavior, with the company also facing antitrust complaints. Another massive Asian country is known for its antitrust complaint against Apple, with India recently denying its request to halt the investigation and continuing for now.