The Delhi High Court on Friday asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) not to pass any final order in its probe against Apple over the App Store’s payment policies till July 15.
A bench of chief justice DK Upadhyaya and justice Tejas Karia opined that it had issued notice in Apple’s petition challenging the legal provision empowering the CCI to impose penalties of up to 10% of an errant company’s global turnover on finding something “considerable” and said that passing a final order could create complications.
“We had issued notice only after finding something considerable in the matter…. Do not make this petition infructous… Proceed, but do not take final order… We’ll adjudicate the issue, you may proceed with the proceeding but you will not take final decision Its only that the petition has filed and finding something considerable we issued notice,” the bench said to CCI’s lawyer Balbir Singh.
“What will happen in a month’s time? We’re not stopping your proceedings, we’re only saying do not pass orders, else it will create complications….”, it added.
The court also asked Apple to cooperate with the CCI probe.
“We also direct that in the proceedings, the petitioner shall fully cooperate,” the court said.
The direction came after Apple’s lawyer AM Singhvi informed the court that although its petition was listed for hearing on July 15, the CCI had issued a notice scheduling a final hearing on May 21. Singhvi sought deferment of the proceedings before the regulator and to restrain it from taking coercive action, contending that continuation of the hearing could render its pending petition infructuous.
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The CCI’s lawyer, Balbir Singh initially opposed the plea, stating that the hearing had not been fixed abruptly and that Apple had sought extension on nine occasions to furnish information. However, the regulator later agreed that while it would continue with the hearing on May 21, no final order would be passed until July 15.
The CCI in 2021 had initiated an investigation against Apple from the complaints filed between 2021 and 2022 by NGOs, Indian startups and Match Group (owner of Tinder, Hinge and OkCupid), alleging that the company abused its dominant position by requiring developers to use its in-app payment system and pay commissions of up to 30%. The CCI in December 2024 had directed Apple to The CCI on March 3, 2025 had passed an order directing the company to furnish audited financial statements for the financial year 2022, 2023 and 2024 in terms of the turnover regulations and penalty guidelines.
The law, Section 27(b) of the Competition Act (Act), as amended in 2023, along with the Competition Commission of India (Determination of Monetary Penalty) Guidelines, 2024, empowers the CCI to impose penalties on enterprises engaged in anti-competitive agreements or abuse of dominance.
The penalty may extend to up to 10% of the average turnover or income of the preceding three financial years. Under Explanation 2 to Section 27(b), “turnover” is defined as the global turnover earned from all products and services of the enterprise.
In its petition, Apple has also asserted that the law nullified the Supreme Court’s 2017 verdict in the Excel Crop Care case, in which the court had interpreted turnover under the penalty provisions of the Competition Act to mean relevant turnover, i.e., turnover of the products or services which were the subject matter of the contravention. The court had also ruled that using relevant turnover as the appropriate measure would be in consonance with the purpose of the provision, as it ensured catering to the public interest as well as to the interest of the national economy.
