The year barely started and Apple has been hit with an antitrust investigation over App Store practices in India, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. India’s antitrust watchdog wants to understand whether Apple charging a 30% fee from developers on the App Store harms software makers and stifles competition or not.
WSJ says that the Competition Commission of India believes Apple has “violated some of the country’s antitrust laws.”
The watchdog was responding to a complaint earlier last year from an Indian nonprofit group alleging that a 30% fee Apple charges developers selling digital content via their apps harms software makers and stifles competition. Apple has denied the claims, saying it is focused on making its devices as attractive as possible to consumers, according to the order.
Last month, the UK watchdog accused Apple and Google of duopoly. At that time, the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority said it was concerned that both companies’ practice was “leading to less competition and meaningful choice for customers. People also appear to be missing out on the full benefit of innovative new products and services – such as so-called ‘web apps’ and new ways to play games through cloud services on iOS devices.”
While Apple had addressed in the past year some subjects over antitrust allegations such as the ability to move from iOS to Android and vice-versa, there’s a lot of controversy about opening iOS to more app stores or giving users different payment systems.
Recently, Apple was granted a delay in complying with App Store changes required by the Epic ruling. A few months ago, the company decided to change some App Store rules after a class-action lawsuit in the US by developers. For example, they will be able to communicate with users about alternative payment solutions outside of their applications.
Not only that, but last year Apple also announced a Small Developer Assistance Fund, which will pay out between $250 to $30,000 to developers making under $1 million per year in the App Store. You can learn more about it here.
About India’s case, WSJ says the government has been “tightening rules on global tech companies in the country as they invest billions to reach consumers getting online for the first time.” Now, we will have to wait and see what findings India’s watchdog will discover.
What do you think about these investigations all over the globe? Do you think Apple should open the App Store? Charge less from developers? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
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