Apple challenges India antitrust findings, alleging CCI “copy-pasted” rivals’ claims

Apple has said the Competition Commission of India (CCI) relied too heavily on complaints from rivals and did not carry out an independent investigation before concluding that the company broke competition rules. In a June 25 filing, Apple asked for the findings to be cancelled. The case is part of Apple's dispute with India's Competition Commission over alleged unfair practices on its iOS app platform.

Apple has accused India's Competition Commission of plagiarising its $38 billion antitrust case, claiming investigators "blindly replicated" rivals' allegations and an EU graphic without verification. In a fresh submission reported by Reuters, Apple says the CCI's three-year probe gave it no chance to respond, demanding the findings be quashed. A closed-door hearing is scheduled for July 21, 2026.

Apple is reportedly seeking to have India’s antitrust findings against the App Store quashed, arguing that investigators simply “copy-pasted” claims from its rivals rather than conducting their own investigation. Here are the details.

Apple said any “forced alterations to Apple’s carefully designed App Store ‌could disrupt its integrated business model,” and argued against any penalties and behavioural remedies that could force it to change its ‌approach.

Apple has accused Indian antitrust investigators of "copy-pasting" claims from its rivals and failing to conduct their own analysis, arguing the regulator's findings against it should be thrown out. In a June 25 submission to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) reviewed by Reuters, Apple escalated its long-running dispute with the regulator, where Match and a group of Indian startups are among its opponents. The CCI's investigators privately concluded in 2024 that Apple had engaged in "abusive conduct" on the App Store and wrongly mandated the use of its own payment system. Apple has denied the allegations. The company said it is a "minuscule player" with under 6% of India's smartphone market, and argued the investigation's conclusions rest on rivals' claims rather than the CCI's independent work. It warned that "forced alterations to Apple's carefully designed ‌App Store‌ could disrupt its integrated business model," and that remedies would "create regulatory uncertainty and could deter investments in India's digital economy." In its submission, Apple provided tables intended to show the CCI's investigation team had simply reproduced filings from opponents in the case, including Match, Walmart's Indian payments app PhonePe, and Indian rival Paytm. "The DG [Director General] made no effort whatsoever to independently verify or critically assess these statements, often parroting them verbatim," Apple said. Apple also claimed the CCI "blindly replicated" a graphic on worldwide consumer spending on mobile apps and games drawn from a 2024 EU ruling against the company, despite India facing different market conditions. In its own case, Google argued that Indian investigators had copied parts of a European ruling, but it had little effect on the final ruling resulting in forced changes to promotion of Android. Apple is also arguing that officials failed to grant it "a single opportunity to record its statements and provide oral evidence" during the probe, in contrast to Google, which it says was given several chances to defend itself. The regulator has accused Apple of stalling the case for more than two years by withholding responses and pursuing a parallel challenge to India's antitrust penalty law, which allows for fines of up to 10% of a company's turnover over the previous three years. That law lets India base any penalty on global rather than local turnover, the basis on which Apple has estimated its potential exposure at as much as $38 billion. Apple is separately contesting in a New Delhi court whether the law, which took effect in 2024, should apply to the full 2022–2024 period in question. Apple had refused to supply global financial documents for that period before agreeing to cooperate in early June 2026, ultimately submitting only its local Indian turnover after requesting a "final extension" that ran to June 25, which was the same day it filed its copy-pasting accusation. The dispute comes as India grows ever more central to Apple's business. The country is set to make 26% of the world's iPhones in 2026, up from 6% four years ago.Tags: Apple Antitrust, IndiaThis article, "Apple Says India's Antitrust Case Against It Is 'Copy-Pasted'" first appeared on MacRumors.comDiscuss this article in our forums

Apple appeared to be finally cooperating with India's antitrust regulator, but now says it can show that the country's three-year investigation consisted of simply copying and pasting claims from rivals.Tim Cook in a previous visit to India — image credit: AppleIn 2021, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) began investigating Apple after receiving a complaint against its App Store fees. In 2024, it accused Apple of antitrust practices, and the company has been consistently arguing against that ruling ever since. Now ahead of a further closed-door hearing with senior CCI officials, Apple has submitted its own accusations.According to Reuters, Apple's submission includes the claim that the CCI's investigators "blindly replicated" a consumer spending graphic from an EU rule. Apple's submission reportedly also includes tables comparing the CCI's report to filings from opponents in the case, such as rival Indian payment firms. Continue Reading on AppleInsider | Discuss on our Forums