$38 billion question: Delhi HC to take up Apple’s plea against CCI global turnover penalty rule on Monday

A division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela will on Monday take up Apple’s petition challenging amendments to the Competition Act. The changes empower antitrust regulator Competition Commission of India (CCI) to impose penalties on a company for violations based on its global turnover.

Apple said it could face fines of up to $38 billion or about 10% of its average global turnover over the past three financial years if the provision applies to its ongoing App Store antitrust probe.

The company called it “manifestly arbitrary, unconstitutional, grossly disproportionate, and unjust.” Apple is arguing that the change overturns a 2017 Supreme Court ruling limiting penalties to relevant Indian turnover and violates its constitutional rights under Articles 14 and 21.


The impugned Section 27(b) allows the CCI to levy a penalty of up to 10% of average global turnover from all products and services on entities guilty of abuse of dominance or of anti-competitive conduct, shifting from India-specific revenue.