Competition body reviewing report on Apple app store billing policy

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is currently reviewing the report on an investigation into Apple's app store billing and policies, The Economic Times reported on Wednesday.

As was done in the case of Google, the tech giant could be asked to make changes to its commission policies and app store billing by the CCI, experts said. If the CCI rules against Apple, the company would be required to open its closely guarded iOS operating system, something which it has not had to do anywhere in the world. The parties involved in the case will be called to make their submissions.

The CCI had asked Google that it must let third-party billing systems for payment on its app store and not limit the option for users to Google Play's billing system (GPBS), in its October 25 order. The California-based tech giant has filed an appeal against the order.

Apple's “walled garden” will get affected, if the CCI orders that alternative billing systems must be allowed to co-exist on its app store, ET quoted a Delhi-based antitrust lawyer as saying.  It will be a long-drawn battle for Apple if the firm has to let someone else work on their operating system, the lawyer added.

If the CCI imposes restrictions on Apple's app store billing and policies that are similar to those it imposed on Google, this would go against Apple's core beliefs about how its iOS operating system should be managed, industry insiders told ET.