Anti-trust Penalty
Face $38 billion fine under amended Competition Act, Apple tells Delhi HC
This story was originally published at 19:42 IST on 26 November 2025
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NEW DELHI – Apple Inc. has told the Delhi High Court that it could be fined $38 billion if the recent amendments to the Competition Act, 2002, which allow the Competition Commission of India to penalise companies on the basis of their global turnover, stand. Apple's maximum penalty exposure at the rate of 10% of its average global turnover derived from all its products and services globally for the period from financial year 2021-22 (Apr-Mar) to FY24 could be about $38 billion, the American multinational technology company said.
Under the Competition Act, the anti-trust regulator can penalise a company up to 10% of its "global turnover derived from all the products and services". Earlier, the regulator could levy a penalty only on the "relevant turnover" derived from the product or service under investigation in India. Apple has challenged the changes to the law in 2023 and 2024 that allow the commission to penalise a company on the basis of its turnover worldwide.
In March, the competition regulator had asked Apple to submit its audited financial statements for the period from FY22 to FY24. The regulator is hearing allegations of anti-competitive conduct in the functioning of Apple's App Store.
Apple said the regulator had, in a case involving another entity, imposed a penalty on it retrospectively on the basis of its global turnover. Any such retrospective imposition of penalty on Apple in terms of the recent amendments would be "manifestly arbitrary, irrational, and grossly disproportionate", rendering the same "ultra vires the provisions of Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution of India", it said.
Under the law, the average turnover for the three financial years preceding the contravention is taken into consideration while penalising a company. The Competition Commission of India (Determination of Turnover or Income) Regulations, 2024, and the Competition Commission of India (Determination of Monetary Penalty) Guidelines, 2024, explain how turnover or income should be determined.
In 2017, the Supreme Court had ruled that turnover for penalty purposes must relate to the infringing product and market, not the company's entire business. The petitioner company has argued that the recent amendments violate that verdict.
The bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela will hear Apple's plea against the government and the Competition Commission of India on Dec. 3. End
US$1 = INR 89.27
Reported by Surya Tripathi
Edited by Rajeev Pai
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