Apple could be facing a widespread investigation into the App Store in India, and more specifically, the company's in-app purchasing system, which grants it a 15% to 30% commission for all purchases made, reports Reuters.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), which oversees cases of possible anti-competitive and antitrust behavior, is reviewing an antitrust challenge case against Apple presented by a non-profit Indian group. The group claims, in their case, that Apple's standard 30% commission for in-app purchases "hurts competition" since it raises costs for both the developer and the customer.
"The existence of the 30% commission means that some app developers will never make it to the market ... This could also result in consumer harm," said the filing, which has been seen by Reuters.
Apple has already faced countless similar cases worldwide, including in the European Union and by developer groups in the United States. In its current stage, the case is not prompting a more exhaustive investigation by the Indian government. Instead, Reuters says that it will be reviewed by the CCI in the coming weeks, possibly leading to a probe.
The group behind the case is ultimately asking for Apple to allow third-party payment methods into its app, allowing developers to bypass its 15% to 30% commission. The new case was reported just hours after Apple announced that, beginning sometime next year, it will allow "reader" apps to link users to external websites for purchases.
The new policy change is the second of just the past few weeks. Last week, Apple conceded to allow developers to email users about payment methods available outside of their apps. However, the new changes stop short of not requiring developers to use the company's proprietary in-app purchasing system and instead allows them to just add a clearly distinguished link to an external website for payment.
Tuesday September 9, 2025 10:59 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple today introduced the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
Both devices feature a new aluminum unibody design, with the Ceramic Shield now protecting both the front and back sides. Apple says the front side is now Ceramic Shield 2, which offers 3x better scratch resistance, while the rear Ceramic Shield is advertised as 4x more resistant to cracks compared to the back glass on previous...
Tuesday September 9, 2025 12:23 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple continues to phase out the physical SIM card tray on iPhones, with the latest models relying solely on eSIM technology in more countries.
The new iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max support eSIMs only in these countries and regions, according to Apple:
Bahrain
Canada
Guam
Japan
Kuwait
Mexico
Oman
Qatar
Saudi Arabia
United Arab Emirates
Un...
Thursday September 11, 2025 4:01 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple's new Live Translation feature for AirPods will be off-limits to millions of European users when it arrives next week, with strict EU regulations likely holding back its rollout.
Apple says on its feature availability webpage that "Apple Intelligence: Live Translation with AirPods" won't be available if both the user is physically in the EU and their Apple Account region is in the EU....
Wednesday September 10, 2025 12:30 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple held its annual iPhone event on Tuesday, September 9, to unveil the iPhone 17, ultra-thin iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
All of the new iPhone models will be available to pre-order starting Friday, September 12 at 5 a.m. Pacific Time / 8 a.m. Eastern Time in the U.S. and dozens of other countries, according to Apple. The release date for the devices is one week...
Wednesday September 10, 2025 8:33 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead.
If you are skipping the iPhone 17 Pro and want to know about what to expect from the iPhone 18 Pro models, we have recapped a few of the key rumors below.
Under-Screen Face ID
In April 2023, display industry analyst Ross Young shared a...
Tuesday September 9, 2025 1:25 pm PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple has confirmed the battery capacities for the iPhone 17, iPhone Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models that were announced earlier today.
Apple is required to publish energy labels on its iPhone product pages in the EU, and they reveal the official mAh battery capacities for the devices.
Here are the battery capacities for each model, according to Apple:
iPhone 17:...
Wednesday September 10, 2025 7:33 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The first benchmark results for the A19 Pro chip in the iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today.
Based on these early results — which are unconfirmed — the A19 Pro chip across the Pro models and the iPhone Air appears to deliver up to 13% to 15% faster multi-core CPU performance compared to the A18 Pro chip in the iPhone 16 Pro...
As I said, Apple is being sued around the world(US,EU,AU,UK, now India too and more to come). Of course all these lawsuits and antitrust monopoly/duopoly trials will have different outcomes, but overall this will lead to multiple AppStores, multiple Payments Platforms, Open NFC hardware access and the beloved sideloading. Hate the outcomes, but face it, I will ❤️ it.
Please be extremely clear in your reporting because in a very similar article on the matter you quoted Apple as saying that they will allow app developers to provide a in-app link to the developers website for 'account management' purposes only. 'account management' does not mean 'allow link to external website for payment'. No where has Apple said they will allow an app developer to provide an in-app link for external payments.
Please provide the evidence where Apple has expressly said they will allow app developers to provide in-app links to external websites for payments to take place. If you cannot find it please remove any reference to allowing links to external websites for payment because it's going beyond journalist license to write something that is not true.
Please be extremely clear in your reporting because in a very similar article on the matter you quoted Apple as saying that they will allow app developers to provide a in-app link to the developers website for 'account management' purposes only. 'account management' does not mean 'allow link to external website for payment'. No where has Apple said they will allow an app developer to provide an in-app link for external payments.
Please provide the evidence where Apple has expressly said they will allow app developers to provide in-app links to external websites for payments to take place. If you cannot find it please remove any reference to allowing links to external websites for payment because it's going beyond journalist license to write something that is not true.
From apple.com: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/09/japan-fair-trade-commission-closes-app-store-investigation/. Apple will also help developers of reader apps protect users when they link them to an external website to make purchases.
As I said, Apple is being sued around the world(US,EU,AU,UK, now India too and more to come). Of course all these lawsuits and antitrust monopoly/duopoly trials will have different outcomes, but overall this will lead to multiple AppStores, multiple Payments Platforms, Open NFC hardware access and the beloved sideloading. Hate the outcomes, but face it, I will ❤️ it.
Hurrah! Let's take away consumer choice! Now, instead of choosing between the Apple way of doing things (walled garden, etc.) and the Google way, we'll all only have the Google way available. You get what you wanted, and everyone else gets... what you wanted, instead of maybe what they wanted. Great outcome.
The group claims, in their case, that Apple's standard 30% commission for in-app purchases "hurts competition" since it raises costs for both the developer and the customer.
Does no one remember how expensive software used to be before the app store? Prices won't go down with third party payments. I haven't seen any news about apps reducing prices when their fee went to 15%.
Biggest design overhaul since iOS 7 with Liquid Glass, plus new Apple Intelligence features and improvements to Messages, Phone, Safari, Shortcuts, and more.
