Apple ordered to cooperate with India antitrust probe as court refuses to stay case

An Indian court has ordered Apple to cooperate with the country’s competition watchdog in an ongoing App Store antitrust case, while refusing to stay the proceedings entirely. Here are the details.

Apple denied pause in Indian App Store antitrust investigation

As frequent 9to5Mac readers know, Apple is embroiled in an antitrust dispute with India’s competition watchdog over the App Store, with the fight increasingly focused on how much access regulators should have to the company’s global financial data.

Earlier this month, Apple accused the Competition Commission of India (CCI) of overstepping its judicial authority after the watchdog issued an ultimatum demanding the company submit its financial information.

From Reuters:

After the CCI this month gave Apple an ultimatum to submit its financial statements and scheduled a final hearing on May 21, the company urged the Delhi High Court to urgently intervene to stay the case.

At the center of this aspect of the dispute is Apple’s disagreement with India’s updated competition law, which allows potential penalties to be calculated based on a company’s global turnover, rather than just its local revenue.

Apple has challenged this sanctions framework in court and, as part of that fight, has also sought to suspend the underlying ICC proceedings on the App Store while challenging the legality of the law itself.

The regulator, meanwhile, has accused Apple of repeatedly requesting extensions and delaying the case while resisting requests to submit financial information that the CCI says it needs to move forward.

Following these exchanges, the Delhi High Court has now asked Apple to “cooperate fully” with the CCI proceedings. The court did not grant Apple’s request to stay the case, but it blocked the regulator from making a final decision before the case returns to court on July 15.

The court also allowed Apple to enter certain documents (without identifying them in the order), likely as part of its broader challenge to India’s antitrust sanctions framework.

You can read the court’s full decision below:

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