New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has refused Apple’s request to halt antitrust proceedings related to its app store practices, but allowed the company partial relief by restraining the Competition Commission of India from issuing a final order as the firm’s challenge to amended penalty rules remains pending.
The court directed Apple to cooperate in full with the ongoing CCI proceedings. At the heart of the matter is a five-year-old antitrust complaint over Apple’s App store practices—specifically, the allegation that the company forces developers in India to use its proprietary in-app payment system, charges them commissions of up to 30 percent and operates the App store as a gatekeeper that developers cannot bypass.
The case began in December 2021 when a non-profit called Together We Fight Society filed a complaint against Apple with the CCI. Indian startups, represented by the Alliance of Digital India Foundation and Match Group, the parent company of Tinder and Hinge, also joined as complainants.CCI investigators concluded in July 2024 that Apple abused its dominant position by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase system. The regulator found that Apple’s App store functioned as an unavoidable trading partner for developers, leaving them no choice but to accept its terms. Apple has denied the charges. It has also said it is a small player in India compared to Google’s Android ecosystem, which powers the bulk of smartphones in the country. Apple’s iPhone market share in India stands at around 9 percent.The high court’s Thursday order, which was uploaded on the court’s website on Saturday, came while hearing an Apple writ petition from November 2025 in which it challenged the Competition Act, 2002, and the 2024 Monetary Penalty Guidelines, which permit penalties to be calculated on the basis of global revenue instead of India-specific or product-specific revenue.The writ petition was heard by a division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia. Apple, represented by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Aditya Sondhi, had filed an application seeking to bring new documents on record and to stop the CCI from taking any action in the three separate cases—filed by Together We Fight Society, Match Group, and the Alliance of Digital India Foundation—while the writ petition remains pending. The court accepted the documents subject to objection by the respondents. Appearing for the CCI, senior advocate Balbir Singh told the court that while hearings would proceed, no final decision would be taken before the next date of listing. The court recorded that statement and directed Apple to cooperate in full with the ongoing CCI proceedings.
