Indian court orders Apple to cooperate in antitrust probe over iPhone apps

A Delhi court refused to put Apple’s India antitrust probe on hold, forcing the company to keep cooperating as investigators examine whether its App Store rules and in-app payment system squeezed competition in one of the world’s most important smartphone markets.

The Delhi High Court ordered Apple to fully cooperate with the Competition Commission of India while also asking the regulator not to issue a final order before July 15, 2026. The dispute stems from a complaint filed by Together We Fight Society in Case No. 24/2021 on December 31, 2021, and later joined by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation and Match Group. The CCI has been investigating Apple since 2021 over allegations that it used its App Store rules and proprietary billing system to control how developers reach iPhone users.

The conduct under scrutiny goes to the core of Apple’s services model. The company’s in-app purchase fee can reach 30%, and the CCI’s 2024 investigation report said Apple had engaged in “abusive conduct and practices.” The report also described the App Store as an “unavoidable trading partner” for developers because Apple’s billing and payment system was mandatory. That finding matters because it suggests developers may have had little practical choice but to route digital sales through Apple’s own payment rails, giving the company leverage over pricing, distribution and revenue collection.

Apple has fought the case by challenging India’s Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 and the 2024 Monetary Penalty Guidelines, which can allow fines to be calculated using global turnover rather than only revenue tied to the alleged violation. In a late-2025 filing, Apple warned that approach could expose it to a penalty of as much as $38 billion. The CCI has said Apple did not provide the financial information it wanted.

The case is landing as India becomes a far more important market for Apple. Counterpoint Research says Apple’s iPhone share in India is now about 9%, up from 4% two years ago. Other market figures cited in 2024 put Apple’s iOS share at about 3.5% of India’s roughly 690 million smartphones in mid-2024 and about 4% of 712 million by the end of that year. That growth gives Apple more to gain in India, but it also raises the stakes as regulators outside the United States and Europe become more willing to challenge platform control.