Apple Seeks Court Block on India's Global Data Demand

Apple has sought an intervention from India's Delhi High Court to prevent the country's antitrust regulator from demanding its global financial records amid an ongoing investigation into the company's App Store practices, according to court documents.

The U.S. technology firm filed the motion on January 15, requesting that the Competition Commission of India (CCI) halt its efforts to obtain the sensitive financial information until a related legal challenge to India's penalty calculation rules is resolved. The court is set to hear the case on January 27. Apple argues that complying with the disclosure request at this stage would undermine its primary contention against the rules, which allow fines based on a company's worldwide revenue rather than local earnings. The company has expressed concerns that penalties could reach as much as $38 billion if the CCI applies the global turnover formula to the antitrust probe.

The dispute stems from a yearslong investigation by the CCI, which has accused Apple of abusing its dominant position in the iOS app distribution market through restrictive App Store policies. These include rules on developer fees, payment systems, and app...