Delhi HC to hear Apple’s plea challenging global turnover-based penalty rule on 3 December

New Delhi: The Delhi high court will hear on 3 December the plea filed by Apple Inc. challenging provisions of the updated competition law that allow the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to impose penalties based on a company’s global turnover.

The plea was listed for hearing on Wednesday before a division bench led by Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, but could not be taken up due to paucity of judicial time.

The Union of India and the CCI are respondents in the case.

Apple, in its lawsuit, has contested the 2023 amendment to Section 27(b) of the Competition Act and the 2024 Monetary Penalty Guidelines, which introduced the concept of global turnover for penalty computation.

Under Section 27(b), the CCI may impose fines of up to 10% of the average turnover of the preceding three financial years on enterprises found guilty of abuse of dominance or anti-competitive conduct.

The amendment significantly broadens the scope of “turnover,” allowing fines to be calculated on worldwide revenue across all products and services, instead of only Indian revenue or the revenue of the relevant product segment.

This overturns the Supreme Court’s landmark 2017 ruling in Excel Crop Care, which held that penalties should be based solely on “relevant turnover”, arguing that global turnover bore no rational connection to alleged conduct in India and could lead to disproportionate outcomes.

The new model aligns India more closely with jurisdictions such as the EU and UK, where global turnover is used to determine penalty ceilings.

However, unlike the EU, where fines start from the revenue of the specific product involved, India’s regime permits the direct use of global turnover to determine fines.

Apple argues this could result in excessive and unfair penalties, even where allegations concern only a small part of its Indian business.

The issue carries major implications for Big Tech firms, including Google, Amazon and Meta, which now face the possibility of significantly larger financial exposure in ongoing CCI investigations into app store rules, bundling practices and digital advertising markets. Fines in such cases could be calculated on worldwide revenue.

Apple’s challenge comes as the company rapidly expands in India, reporting record revenue driven by strong demand for the iPhone 17—its 14th consecutive quarter of growth.

The firm is projected to sell 15.5 million iPhones in 2025, up nearly 25% year-on-year, despite an overall decline in India’s smartphone shipments.

Apple commands a 28% value share of the premium segment, while it recently became the world’s largest smartphone brand with 19% global market share in Q1 2025, ahead of Samsung at 18%, according to Counterpoint Research.

Apple’s petition will test how India applies its new global turnover penalty regime to multinational corporations with vast international revenues. The outcome is likely to have major implications for ongoing and future CCI investigations, particularly those involving large technology platforms.

Apple India declined to comment on emailed queries sent on Tuesday.