In India, Apple only holds 2% of the smartphone market. Despite this, the American giant is upholding its law by imposing its proprietary payment system to applications on the App Store. A 30% levy on the income generated. A shortfall according to Together We Fight Society, the Indian association at the origin of the complaint.
India attacks Apple’s 30% tax
On December 31, 2021, the Competition Commission of India opened an investigation to study the functioning of the App Store in India. Within 60 days, the Indian gendarme gives himself the right to “Check whether Apple is violating competition law” by imposing its payment system on all application developers. In any case, this is what Together We Fight Society, a non-profit organization located in the state of Rajasthan, values. The association is positioned as the consumer advocate in India.
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The Competition Commission of India has said that it initially believes that the mandatory use of Apple’s payment system for paid apps and in-app purchases could “Restrict the possibilities for application developers”. With this mandatory parameter, developers are subject to the 30% commission charged by Apple on all purchases made within the App Store ecosystem. A tax which “Considerably reduces the income generated”, according to the Indian Competition Authority.
Despite an increase in iPhone sales, the Indian smartphone market is largely dominated by Android which has a fluctuating market share. between 98 and 99% for several years. In its order, the Competition Commission of India specifies that it will also seek to understand whether Apple uses the data it collects from the users of its competitors to improve its own services.
The same debate on all continents
It’s the same music repeating itself for Apple. India is the latest market to express its concerns regarding the in-app payment system imposed by Apple. Indeed, Apple has already faced this debate in the United States and Europe.
Epic Games even decided to file a lawsuit against the Apple brand sometime last year. In the end, Apple ended up making concessions on its 30% tax. Under pressure, the American giant has decided to exempt from tax applications providing real-time person-to-person experiences between two people.
Most recently, the Authority for Consumers and Markets, the Dutch competition authority, also forced Apple to open its in-app payment system for dating services, following a Match Group complaint. . A new regulation which therefore requires the App Store to authorize dating applications guide their users to the payment system of their choice. They can thus escape the 15% to 30% tax usually imposed by Apple.