The Delhi High Court on Friday (May 15, 2026) asked the Competition Commission of India (CCI) not to pass any final order till July 15 in its proceedings against tech giant Apple over allegations of abusing its position on its app store.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia said the antitrust regulator could proceed with the matter in the meantime and asked Apple to cooperate fully.

“Lay your hands off till July 15. Proceed with the matter. They will cooperate but you will not pass a final order,” the court said.

Apple had assailed the amendment to the Competition Act, 2002, which empowered the CCI to impose penalties based on a company’s global turnover. It also challenged direction to furnish the firm’s audited financial statements for several years.

Apple, in its plea, said the effect of amended penalty provisions was that the turnover generated from all products or services of the enterprise could be aggregated for computation of the penalty, instead of the turnover generated from the affected “relevant product or services” of the enterprise.

It said after the amendment, the global turnover of an enterprise, generated from territories outside the jurisdiction of the CCI, could be considered for computation of the penalty, instead of the turnover of an enterprise as generated in the “relevant geographic market”, that was, in the Indian market.

The plea said amended provision empowered the CCI to fine firms found guilty of abuse of dominance or anti-competitive conduct up to 10% of its average turnover of preceding three financial years.

Apple stated that its maximum penalty exposure, that was, 10% of its average global turnover derived from all of its products or services globally for financial years 2022 to 2024, could be around $38 billion.