Apple Moves Delhi High Court against CCI’s Global Turnover Penalty Framework

Moneylife Digital Team 26 November 2025

Economy & Nation

Apple Inc has approached the Delhi High Court challenging India revised competition law provisions that allow the competition commission of India (CCI) to levy penalties based on a company’s global turnover, a move the tech giant argues could result in excessive and disproportionate fines.

The petition is scheduled to be heard by a division bench comprising chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and justice Tushar Rao Gedela.

This challenge is among the first major legal reactions to the extensive amendments made to the Competition Act in 2023. One of the most significant changes introduced was a new penalty regime empowering the CCI to calculate fines on the basis of a company’s worldwide turnover, instead of limiting it to India-specific or product-specific revenues.

Apple has contested the amendment to Section 27(b) of the Competition Act, as well as the 2024 monetary penalty guidelines that operationalised the concept of 'global turnover' for penalty computation.

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

However, the recent amendment broadens the definition of 'turnover,' enabling penalties to be calculated on the basis of global revenue from all products and services, irrespective of where the alleged misconduct occurred.

Before this shift, the CCI was required to consider only 'relevant turnover,' following a landmark 2017 Supreme Court ruling in the Excel Crop Care case. The Court had held that using total or global turnover lacked any rational link with the alleged anti-competitive activity within India and could lead to disproportionate penalties.

Unlike the European Union, where fines are calculated starting from the turnover of the specific product involved, India’s updated framework directly factors in global turnover. Apple has argued that this approach could produce unduly harsh penalties, especially when the alleged conduct pertains to a relatively small part of its Indian operations.

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