Apple has sought more time to respond to the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) notice on allegations that the tech giant has been misusing its dominant position through its App Store forcing start-ups and developers to use only its payment gateway and levying stiff commissions on in-app purchases. Apple was supposed to send its response by mid-October but now has time till November 16.

Apple reached out to CCI on October 22, seeking four weeks extension to submit a comprehensive response to Rajasthan-based non-profit organisation, Together We Fight Society’s complaint filed in August.

CCI has also asked the company to share an advanced copy of the response with the ‘informant’, which is Together We Fight Society in this case. Once the NGO receives the response, it will have to file its reply within two weeks and has to send an advance copy to Apple.

The Allegations

The non-profit had filed a complaint against Apple alleging the company of using its App Store to suppress competition by not letting app developers use any other payment gateways but its own, and levying a commission of 30 per cent on sale of all digital goods and services happening in-app. This is significantly higher than a commission of 1.8-2 per cent charged by other payment gateways. The NGO claimed that this is also creating an entry-barrier for smaller start-ups, hitting its margins especially for developing economies like India.

Further, Apple having its own offerings in various verticals such as Apple Maps and Apple Music--- has been accused of targeting other competing apps like Spotify.

Globally, both Apple and rival Google have been facing flak over high in-app payment commission rates. Google which was going to start charging a 30 per cent commission on in-app purchases in Play Store, similar to Apple from 2022 onwards, had to roll back the plan and reduce commission rates to 15 per cent. This had only partially satisfied app developers as Google seems to be continuing with its plans on restricting other payment gateways on its app marketplace just like Apple.

Google and Apple together control over 95 per cent of the global app store market. Separately, to show some relaxation on its terms, both the companies had announced that apps having an annual revenue of up to $1 million will be exempted from paying any commission.

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