Apple is squaring off with the Competition Commission of India as a January 27 hearing looms over a potential $38 billion fine calculated on the company’s global turnover. The penalty stems from a years‑long App Store antitrust probe, and the 2023 amendment permits India to base fines on worldwide sales.

Apple filed a court motion on Jan 15 asking judges to block the CCI from demanding its financial records until the fine‑calculation issue is settled. The company argues that surrendering documents now would undercut its core challenge to the amendment, which it says unfairly ties an Indian‑only dispute to global revenue.

If the court sides with Apple, the CCI may be forced to pause its investigation, buying the tech giant time to negotiate a more limited penalty. Should judges uphold the 2023 rule, India could set a precedent for using worldwide turnover in future antitrust cases, a development that could ripple through multinationals’ compliance strategies.