Apple is facing an antitrust probe in India over its alleged abuse of the app market, adding to the company’s regulatory woes around the globe.
The Competition Commission of India said Friday that the 30 percent commission Apple charges developers unfairly pushes up costs for both app makers and consumers. The fees also act as a barrier to entry for new developers, the commission argued.
India — which is also investigating allegations of squalid conditions at iPhone manufacturing facilities in the country — is now the latest front in what is increasingly a global battle over Apple’s App Store commissions.
Regulators in the European Union are investigating the fees, which are also at the center of anti-monopoly policy conversations in Washington, D.C. and an ongoing legal battle in California between Fortnite maker Epic Games and Apple.
In addition, South Korea recently passed a law requiring both Apple and Google to let developers sidestep the fees by using their own payments systems.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request from The Post for comment on the Indian investigation, but Reuters reported that the company denied the accusations in a December regulatory filing, arguing that its market share in the country is too small to allow it to abuse power.
India’s Competition Commission has rejected that argument and ordered its investigations unit to complete a probe into the company and submit a report within 60 days. The watchdog is separately conducting an investigation into Google’s in-app payment system as part of a broader probe into the company after complaints from Indian startups last year.
It’s unclear what punishment Apple might face if the company is found to have violated Indian antitrust law.
Indian authorities have also sparred with Twitter, going as far as to send police to its New Delhi office last year after the social media site labeled a spokesman for the country’s ruling party as “manipulated media.”
With Post wires