Apple has set its sights on India’s antitrust watchdog, questioning the legality of a request for financial data as part of an ongoing battle over its App Store policies.
The Indian competition body wants to obtain this information so that it can calculate the penalty that Apple should face. This follows an investigation in 2024 which found that Apple had abused its dominant market position.
Reuters reports that Apple may have to pay a whopping $38 billion penalty. However, in court documents seen by the outlet, Apple rebuffed India’s request for financial data. The company does not believe that the antitrust agency exceeded its powers in its request for financial data.
Apple previously had until May 21, 2026 to submit the data necessary to calculate the penalty. Now the company has gone on the offensive and chosen to challenge India’s entire antitrust sanctions system in a court in New Delhi.
The court will meet on May 15 to discuss the case.
A recurring theme for Apple
India remains a key market for Apple, with iPhones accounting for almost 10% of the smartphone market. That’s double the 4% figure from just two years ago, the report notes.
For its part, Apple says it’s still small fries compared to Google’s Android. Android accounts for the vast majority of the Indian smartphone market.
India is far from the first country to find Apple in violation of local antitrust laws. The company has been embroiled in a legal battle with the European Union for years.
Antitrust agencies around the world believe Apple is abusing its market position by preventing third-party iPhone app stores. The EU has successfully forced Apple to allow such stores in the bloc, and others are working to follow suit.