India issues final notice to Apple, signals move to press ahead with antitrust case
New Delhi: India’s competition regulator has issued a final warning to Apple, signalling that it will proceed with an antitrust case against the US technology company after Apple delayed its responses for over a year and attempted to stall the proceedings, according to a confidential order reported by The Hindu.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI), in an order dated December 31, rejected Apple’s request to pause the case while a related dispute concerning penalty rules is pending before the Delhi High Court. The regulator stated that Apple’s conduct had undermined procedural discipline and delayed the conclusion of the investigation.
The antitrust case arises from a probe that found Apple had abused its dominant position in the iOS app store market. Apple has denied the allegations and has separately challenged India’s penalty framework before the High Court, arguing that calculating fines based on its global turnover could expose it to penalties of up to $38 billion. That legal challenge remains pending.
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Despite the ongoing court proceedings, the CCI noted that it had asked Apple in October 2024 to submit objections to the investigation’s findings and provide financial information typically required to determine penalties. The regulator said Apple was granted multiple extensions but failed to comply.
In its order, the CCI said that repeated extensions, despite clear directions, had hindered the timely completion of the case and could not continue indefinitely. It warned that the commission would proceed with the matter on its own if Apple does not submit the required response by next week.
Apple did not respond to queries from Reuters on the matter. A source familiar with the development told Reuters that the company views the CCI’s latest order as an attempt to move ahead of the High Court proceedings and is unlikely to respond before the court hears the case again on January 27.
Since 2022, several Indian startups, along with Match Group, the owner of Tinder, have raised concerns over Apple’s App Store policies. In 2024, investigators concluded that the company had engaged in abusive practices within the iOS app ecosystem.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
