Apple's delay tactics fail: Delhi High Court orders company to face India's antitrust investigators

The Delhi High Court has refused to put India's antitrust case against Apple on hold—and told the company in no uncertain terms to work with investigators probing its App Store practices. The court's order, uploaded on May 15, directed Apple to "fully cooperate" with the Competition Commission of India (CCI). Apple had asked for a complete pause on proceedings while it separately challenges India's penalty calculation law in the same court. That request was denied.The court did allow Apple to bring certain documents on record—a narrow procedural concession that stops well short of the full stay it was seeking. The CCI's lawyer told the bench that a multinational company had been "stalling a regulator's hand in 2026" in a case open since 2021.The case has its roots in a December 2021 complaint filed by a Jaipur-based non-profit, Together We Fight Society. Match Group—the parent of Tinder and Hinge—and the Alliance of Digital India Foundation later joined in. At the heart of it is Apple's requirement that developers use its in-app purchase system for digital content, paying commissions of up to 30%, with no alternative payment routes permitted.CCI investigators wrapped up their probe in July 2024 and concluded that Apple had abused its dominant position. The App Store, they found, functions as an unavoidable gatekeeper—developers simply have no other way to reach iPhone users in India, and the country is hardly alone in that verdict.London's Competition Appeal Tribunal reached a similar conclusion in October 2025, finding Apple had overcharged developers for five years in a case valued at £1.5 billion. In the US, Apple was found in contempt for defying a court order stemming from its battle with Epic Games—and has now been twice denied a pause on rulings that bar it from charging commissions on external purchases. Epic, for its part, relisted Fortnite on the App Store globally last week, nearly six years after Apple booted it out.What makes Apple so resistant to handing over its financials is what India could do with them. The updated competition law allows penalties to be calculated on a company's global turnover—not just local revenue. Apple has estimated its exposure at up to $38 billion under that framework, which is precisely why it filed a writ petition in November 2025 challenging the law itself.The company has refused to hand over financial data to the CCI since October 2024, using its separate legal challenge as cover. The CCI ran out of patience, scheduled a final hearing for May 21, and Apple ran back to the High Court seeking an emergency stay. In an April 24 court filing reviewed by Reuters, Apple accused the CCI of "usurping" judicial authority by pushing ahead with proceedings while its legal challenge remains pending—calling the scheduled hearing an "escalation" designed to circumvent the court's oversight.The court was unmoved. Proceedings continue—and Apple, after years of evasion, now has until July 15 to demonstrate it can actually cooperate. Apple's only win on the day: the regulator cannot issue a final ruling before July 15, when the matter returns to court.