Apple app store policies under the review by the competition commission of India

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is currently reviewing a report on an investigation into Apple’s app store billing and policies. The CCI initiated the probe after allegations were made by the not-for-profit ‘Together We Fight Society’ that Apple’s commission charges were too high and that there were no third-party payment options on the app store. Subsequently, the Alliance of Digital India Foundation and Match Group filed similar cases, alleging that Apple’s 30% commission on in-app payments was “exorbitant” compared to other payment processors such as Bill Desk and RazorPay. These cases have been combined for investigation.

It is likely that the findings of the Apple probe will follow the antitrust regulator’s order against a similar allegation levied against Google. On October 2022, the CCI ruled that Google must allow third-party billing systems on its app store and not limit users to Google Pay Billing System.

Despite similarities in both cases, there is a fundamental difference in how Apple and Google operate. Apple’s iOS is a proprietary operating system that is only used on Apple devices, while Google’s Android is an open-source operating system that can be used by any manufacturer. If similar reasoning is used in the Apple case, then by default, Apple’s monopoly with iOS being the only non-licensable operating system makes its insistence on the use of Apple’s billing system anti-competitive.

An order passed against Apple could potentially require the company to modify its app store billing and commission policies. More significantly, it could require Apple to open up its closely-guarded iOS operating system, something it has not done anywhere in the world.