Apple to become the next victim of India’s antitrust regulator

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News broke out when the Indian antitrust regulator decided to apply a fine of over $113 million on Google. India has slapped the search giant with this fine over accusations of multiple anti-competitive practices. Now, it seems that Indian authorities are pushing efforts to do the same with Apple.

According to a recent report, India’s antitrust regulator is increasing the pace of its case against Apple. Apple is accused of the same anti-competitive behavior that slapped Google. The CCI hopes to complete the case of Apple by the end of January 2023.

Google’s case and how it may affect Apple

To recall, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) states that the search giant used its dominant position against app devs. The search giant force the devs to use its in-app payment system instead of allowing third-party companies. That may not sound like a big deal for some, but was violating certain laws in India. Worth noting that the platform is the only way for app creators to earn from their work.

The search giant is studying the decision. After that, the company may even appeal the decision. The company also needs to adopt 8 remedies or operations adjustments within three months. This includes not restricting “app developers” from using any third-party billing/payment processing services.

This investigation has been on India’s radar since 2020, following an antitrust case. As per a law firm, representing the complaint, the order will help the competition. Moreover, it will reduce costs for application makers.

Worth noting that this is the second fine on the company in the span of one week. Back the last Thursday, it was also ordered to pay $162 million for its practices. These involve bundling Google apps with Android and not allowing the user to uninstall them.

India’s investigations on Apple are for basically the same reason. Worth noting, that the company is facing a similar situation in the EU. The EU authorities are investigating Apple’s 30% in-app fee and other restrictions on paid digital content distribution.

India will likely fine Apple as they did with the search giant. After all, the two cases are very similar. By January 2023, we’ll probably see a similar fine on Apple. Of course, the company will be able to appeal the decision.

In related news, Apple is being investigated by US and UK authorities due to concerns involving Pay Later, and Credit Card.