The order to investigate into Apple Inc’s business practices in India from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday comes after a non-profit group alleged that Apple was abusing its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. Some were saying that it that the iPhone maker had violated certain antitrust laws.
Together We Fight Society, argued that Apple’s imposition of a 30 percent in-app fee for the distribution of paid digital content and other restrictions hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers while also acting as a barrier to market entry.
The CCI said Apple’s restrictions prima facie result in denial of market access for potential app developers and distributors. Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
“Apple has been operating in India for more than two decades, and in 2017, we began manufacturing iPhones at a facility here in Bengaluru. Since then, we’ve expanded to Chennai, manufacturing several iPhone models for the domestic market and for export,” said, VP of operations at Apple.
“The Commission at this stage is convinced that a prima facie case is made out against Apple which merits investigation,” it said.
The company denied the allegations in a filing to the CCI in November, seen by Reuters news agency, and asked the regulator to throw out the case, stressing that its market share in India was an “insignificant” 0-5 percent.
CCI however said in the order that Apple’s argument on its market share was “completely misdirected” as the allegations were about anti-competitive restrictions on app developers and not end users.
The allegations are similar to a case Apple faces in the European Union, where regulators last year started an investigation into the US tech giant.
The CCI ordered its investigations unit to complete the investigation and submit a report within 60 days of the order. Typically, such investigations go on for several months.
The watchdog is separately conducting an investigation into Google’s in-app payment system as part of a broader probe into the company after Indian startups last year voiced concern.
