New Delhi, May 11 (IANS): The Alliance of Digital India Foundation (ADIF) on Wednesday said it is now a party to the ongoing Competition Commission of India (CCI) probe against Apple over alleged abuse of market power in the apps market.

The CCI, in late December, ordered a probe into Apple's business practices in the country, saying that it was of the initial view that the tech giant had violated certain antitrust laws.

The ADIF said in a statement that big tech firms like Apple and Google have monopolised the app economy and continue to impose predatory policies on their app stores.

"There is an urgent need to rein them in so that the interests of the scores of small players that make up the internet and app economy are protected," said Sijo Kuruvilla George, Executive Director of the ADIF.

The iOS and Android have a combined market share of 99.03 per cent in India.

"Given their dominant position, their policies affect a large number of users and developers, and changes to their policies have a major impact on businesses," said the foundation.

The complaint against Apple was filed by Jaipur-based non-profit 'Together We Fight Society', arguing that Apple's imposition of a high in-app fee and other restrictions hurts competition by raising costs for app developers and customers, while also acting as a barrier to market entry.

In December last year, the Dutch anti-trust regulator found Apple's App Store policies to be in violation of its competition laws, and has since levied a series of penalties against the company over non-compliance with its order related to dating apps.

"If the anti-competitive and monopolistic practices along with the gatekeeper policies of big tech firms are not kept in check, there is bound to be a detrimental impact on Indian entrepreneurs and businesses and ultimately the sovereignty of the country," said Anupam Mittal, Founder and CEO of Shaadi.com.

The CCI is also conducting an anti-trust investigation into Google Play Store policies.