Tech titan Apple Inc. has sought help from the Delhi High Court to stop the country's antitrust watchdog, Competition Commission of India, from its global financial record, news agency Reuters reported on Thursday.
The CCI's push for Apple's global turnover is part of its efforts to strengthen a case against the tech giant's app store policies in accordance with the antitrust penalty law.
The competition regulator has been in active legal dispute with the America-headquartered tech company since 2021, after alleged misuse of its proprietary in-app payment system or IAP to charge high commissions from smaller app developers.
Whether or not the CCI can penalise Apple based on its global financials has now become the centre of this dispute. The tech giant termed the antitrust body's move as illegal and unconstitutional as it fears a fine of up to $38 billion if the watchdog uses its global turnover calculation for penalties.
Appearing before the court, Apple argued that actions based on such a standard makes companies vulnerable to disproportionate and unpredictable liabilities, especially when the alleged misconduct occurred before the rules were populated.
Further, the company clarified that this contestation should not be viewed as attempts to defer proceedings before the Competition Commission of India, while asking an HC judge to put CCI's probe on hold, Reuters cited a private filing as saying.
Apple also asked the HC to direct the CCI to not take any action against it at this juncture, since being forced into compliance now would defeat the purpose of its primary legal hurdle against India's penalty rules.
The CCI, on the other hand, has reportedly argued that seeking global financial records is imperative in cases where multinational companies have relatively smaller Indian revenues to ensure effective deterrence.
The Delhi High Court's hearing for this case has been scheduled on Jan. 27.
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