Apple moves Delhi High Court against global-turnover penalties under Competition Act

Apple Inc. has moved the Delhi High Court to challenge recent changes in Indian antitrust law that allow the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to impose penalties based on a company’s global turnover.

The petition names both the Union of India and the CCI, and disputes the 2023 amendment to Section 27(b) of the Competition Act, 2002, as well as the 2024 “Determination of Monetary Penalty” guidelines.

Under the amended Section 27(b), the CCI can levy fines up to 10% of the average turnover or income over the previous three years — and “turnover” is now defined to include a firm’s entire global revenue.

Apple argues that such a global-turnover based penalty regime is disproportionate when the alleged anti-competitive conduct may be limited to its Indian operations.

A Division Bench of the Delhi High Court — Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela — is scheduled to hear the case on November 26.Read about our editorial guidelines and ethics policy