India's Turn To Investigate Apple's Business, Ban Apps Using Self-Payments

Apple Inc (Foto: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - India's Competition Commission (CCI) will conduct an investigation into Apple's business practices in the country, which the company claims have violated certain antitrust laws.

The order from CCI comes after a non-profit group Together We Fight Society based in Rajasthan, western India, alleged that Apple had abused its dominant position in the app market by preventing app developers from using third parties or their own payment systems.

This results in a significant reduction in the revenue they generate. Given that Apple also charges commissions of up to 30 percent for app purchases and in-app purchases.

According to reports, Apple has urged CCI to dismiss the case, saying that the non-profit group is too small a player in India.

India is the latest country to express concern over Apple and Google requiring app developers to use the company's payment system for in-app purchases. By opening an investigation into Google's business practices last year.

Early in 2021, South Korea also approved measures that would make it illegal for Apple and Google to charge commissions by forcing developers to use their proprietary payment systems.

In his own country, the United States (US) the policy was also opposed by the game company maker Fortnite, Epic by introducing its own payment system in the hit sleeper title. Now the company is in a legal battle with Google and Apple.

Last year, attorney generals from 36 US states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google alleging its Google Play app store was an illegal monopoly. The bipartisan bill introduced this year in the US Senate seeks to limit how Apple and Google's app stores operate and what rules can be imposed on app developers.

In addition, CCI said it should also investigate whether Apple is using the data it collects from users to improve its own services.

Despite a sizable increase in iPhone sales in India in recent years, Apple is still a small player in the market, at less than two percent. Meanwhile, Google with its Android controls a market share that swings between 98 to 99 percent every year.