Apple, which had previously received an anti-competitive behavior warning from the European Union for in-app payment options and commission issues, now faces the risk of being fined by the European Commission.
European Union: Apple does not comply with the Digital Markets Act
In the past years, in-app payment and commission issues, which first started with Spotfiy’s reaction, could not be resolved between the two companies and Spotify complained to Apple to the European Union Commission. After complaints and investigations, the European Union gave Apple an anti-competitive behavior warning. The main reason for the complaint stems from Apple’s payment and commission policy. When an Apple product user wants to receive a service from an app downloaded from the App Store, they pay through iCloud.
This is seen as one of Apple’s customer protection services. However, Apple takes a 5 percent share of the payment for in-app services under the name of user-to-developer service. Even though Apple considers this fee as an intermediary fee, users argue that the fee they pay belongs only to the developer.
Under pressure from the European Union, companmy introduced features in iOS 17.4 that gave the European Union some flexibility. Users could now download an app from the developer’s website, which meant that the developer would no longer be tied to Apple for in-app payment. After company announced that it would charge per user for downloading apps from its websites, the EU took action under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) and warned Apple.
Executive Vice-President Margretge Vestager, responsible for competition policy, said in June that “Our preliminary position is that company does not fully authorize referral. Referral is important to ensure that app developers are less reliant on gatekeepers’ app stores and that consumers are aware of better offers.
The latest leaks from Bloomberg suggest that the European Union has fined Apple for non-compliance and that the fine could be announced before the end of this month. In recent months, company has paid about 14 billion dollars in unpaid taxes to the country at the request of Ireland. Analysts say that despite this situation, company has completed the third quarter of the year in an excellent way, but company does not want to make paying penalties a standard.
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