Apple fined in the Netherlands for its App Store payment system

Published in : 01/24/2022 – 23:16Modified : 01/24/2022 – 23:14

The regulator believes that dating app providers should be able to use payment systems other than Apple’s system on the App Store, its essential platform for downloading apps to their smartphones and tablets.

Last month, the ACM demanded that Apple change the payment terms for dating app providers on the App Store, calling them “unreasonable.”

A Dutch judge had given Apple until January 15 to make the changes.

The Apple brand sent a statement to the ACM last week, saying the company had made the necessary adjustments.

But according to ACM, “Apple hasn’t adjusted its terms, so dating app providers can’t use other payment systems yet.”

For example, it appears that Apple is forcing app providers to make a choice: a reference to out-of-app payment options or an alternative payment system. However, “both options must be available,” the ACM said in a statement.

If the apple brand does not act in accordance with the charge, it will be fined 5 million euros each week, up to a maximum of 50 million, warned the ACM.

Contacted by AFP, Apple did not immediately react.

Since October, Apple has allowed mobile app publishers to communicate directly with their users and offer them payment methods not controlled by the App Store.

These changes were proposed in late August to end lawsuits against small businesses that build apps. This now allows them to bypass the payment system previously imposed by Apple, which loses its 15 or 30% commission.

But this concession does not satisfy many publishers, especially mobile video games, such as Epic Games, the studio responsible for the extremely popular game Fortnite, which has sued Apple accusing it of monopoly.

In September, a US judge partially acquitted Apple of these accusations and ordered it to no longer enforce its in-app payment system.

© 2022 AFP