SAN FRANCISCO >> A three-judge appeals panel rejected Apple’s request to pause an April 30 order banning the company from charging a fee on in-app iPhone transactions processed outside its once-exclusive payment system in a two-page decision issued late Thursday.

The setback threatens to divert billions of dollars in revenue away from Apple while it tried to overturn the order reining in its commissions from e-commerce within iPhone apps.

Apple sought to put the order on hold after it was issued by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in a stinging rebuke that also held the Cupertino company in civil contempt of court and recommended opening a criminal investigation into whether one of its executives had committed perjury while testifying in her Oakland courtroom.

It marked another twist of the screw in a legal battle initiated nearly five years ago by video game maker Epic Games, which alleged the iPhone’s app store had been turned into a price-gouging monopoly. The antitrust case focused largely on the 15% to 30% commissions that Apple rakes in from a portion of the commerce conducted within iPhone apps under a system that prohibited app makers from offering alternative payment methods.

Apple is still seeking to overturn Gonzalez-Rogers’ ruling in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but her order blocking Apple’s commissions on some in-app commerce will remain in effect while potentially leaving a dent in its profits.