Apple accuses India's CCI of 'copy-pasting' rivals' claims in $38 billion antitrust caseApple has turned the tables on CCI, accusing the antitrust regulator of building its entire case by copying and pasting allegations straight from its rivals. In a fresh submission ahead of a closed-door hearing, the company claims India's three-year investigation was never really an investigation at all—just a recycled stack of complaints from competitors dressed up as official findings. It's a bold gambit in a case where Apple is staring down a potential $38 billion fine.According to Reuters, Apple told the Competition Commission of India that its investigators "blindly replicated" a consumer spending graphic lifted from an EU ruling. The submission reportedly includes side-by-side tables comparing the CCI's report to filings from Apple's opponents, including rival Indian payment firms. The message is blunt: the regulator didn't do its homework.A three-year probe with no chance to respond, Apple saysApple's sharpest jab is that the CCI's Director General "made no effort whatsoever to independently verify or critically assess these statements," instead "parroting them verbatim." The company also claims it was never given a single opportunity across the three-year probe to record statements or offer oral evidence. That, Apple argues, is enough to throw the whole thing out. It points to Google's treatment in a similar case, where the search giant got multiple chances to defend itself.There's history here. During that earlier case, Google also accused the CCI of copy-pasting from a European ruling. The regulator denied it then—and the accusation didn't dent the final verdict against Google in 2023. That precedent doesn't bode well for Apple's latest move.Why Apple waited until now to cry foulThe timing is telling. Apple spent years resisting the CCI's demands, refusing to hand over global financial documents before finally agreeing to cooperate in early June 2026. It asked for a "final extension" to prepare local India turnover figures, pushing the deadline to June 25—the very day it filed this copy-paste accusation.The original case began in 2021, sparked by complaints from Match Group and a coalition of Indian startups over Apple's App Store fees and in-app billing rules. The $38 billion figure stems from a 2024 law letting India calculate fines on global, not just local, turnover—a rule Apple is separately contesting in the Delhi High Court.Apple and the CCI are scheduled to meet behind closed doors on July 21, 2026.