India’s competition watchdog on Friday ordered an investigation into Apple Inc’s business practices in the country, saying it was of the initial view that the iPhone maker had violated certain antitrust laws.
The complainant, “Together We Fight Society,” argued that Apple’s imposition of a 30 per cent in-app fee for distribution of paid digital content and other restrictions hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers, while also acting as a barrier to market entry. “The Commission at this stage is convinced that a prima facie case is made out against Apple which merits investigation,” it said.The company denied the allegations in a filing to the CCI last month, seen by Reuters, and asked the regulator to throw out the case, stressing that its market share in India was an “insignificant” 0-5 per cent.
The allegations are similar to a case Apple faces in the European Union, where regulators last year started an investigation into the U.S. tech giant.