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The Competition Commission of India has confirmed anti-competitive practices by Apple Inc. following a probe into the iPhone and iPad maker’s app store practices in the country, two people familiar with the development said. CCI, which is yet to pronounce its verdict, last week shared a confidential version of its investigation report with Apple and Apple Distribution International Ltd to enable them to prepare their defences, these people said.
This is the penultimate step before final hearings and adjudication on the case. The CCI director general’s investigation report has confirmed a violation of India’s competition law provisions that prohibit abuse of dominance, one of the two persons said. However, a third person, who is also familiar with the case, said CCI hasn’t communicated any such decision to Apple yet.
CCI ordered the probe into Apple’s app store practices in December 2021. It had said then that the mandatory need for application developers to use Apple’s in-app payment solution for paid apps and in-app purchases restricted them from selecting a payment processing system of their choice and was anti-competitive. Mint didn’t receive formal responses to its queries emailed to the CCI on 30 December and to Apple on 31 December seeking comments on the development.
Together We Fight Society, the non-government organisation taking on big tech firms to promote transparency, and which filed the information with CCI leading to the investigation, declined to offer a comment as the case is pending before CCI for final adjudication. The infomant’s allegation was that Apple had made it mandatory for application developers to use Apple’s in-app payment solution, In-App Purchase (IAP), for distribution of paid digital content. The informant also questioned the commission charged by Apple, which it said could be considered as ‘unfair’ and in violation of India’s competition law.
Apple charges a commission of up to 30% for app purchases and in-app purchases. Apple has faced regulatory action in the European Union on similar issues. The European Commission in March last year fined Apple over €1.
8 billion for “abusing its dominant position on the market for the distribution of music streaming apps to iPhone and iPad users through its App Store". The Commission said in a statement that Apple applied restrictions on app developers, preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app, which it said was illegal under EU antitrust rules. CCI’s 2021 order initiating the probe quoted Apple as saying that its app store review guidelines were not unfair or arbitrary and were put in place to ensure a safe and secure place for consumers to discover and download apps and purchase digital content.
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