Competition Commission of India denied Apple (AAPL.O)’s request to hold an investigation report in an ongoing investigation on the company’s commercial assets being disclosed to its competitors. The case if of 2021 and Apple said the watchdog had disclosed commercial assets to its competitors, including Tinder-owned Match (MTCH.O). According to CCI these elements should be retracted from the company’s report.
CCI instructed parties involved in an antitrust investigation to return the original reports and destroy any copies before issuing revised versions. According to an internal CCI document, Apple alleged in November that the primary complainant, Indian non-profit Together We Fight Society (TWFS), failed to comply with the directive to confirm the destruction of the earlier reports.
Apple urged the CCI to “take action against TWFS for non-compliance” and requested that the revised report be withheld. However, the CCI’s November 13 order, reviewed by Reuters, deemed Apple’s request to delay the investigation report “untenable.”
Apple did not respond to Reuters‘ inquiries regarding the matter. The CCI also did not provide comments outside regular business hours on Sunday, while calls to TWFS representatives went unanswered.
The CCI investigation had previously concluded that Apple misused its dominant position in the app store market on its iOS platform, adversely affecting app developers, users, and alternative payment processors. Apple denied any wrongdoing, asserting that it holds a relatively small market share in India, where Android dominates.
The CCI’s internal order also revealed that Apple has been directed to submit audited financial statements for fiscal years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. This submission will assist the regulator in determining potential monetary penalties in accordance with regulatory guidelines.
Senior officials at the CCI will review the investigation findings and issue a final ruling on the case.
