Russia threatens Apple with a turnover fine
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Apple failed to comply with the requirements of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, which in August 2021 issued a warning to the American company about violating antitrust laws. Now Apple faces a turnover penalty on the amount of revenue in the market.
Antitrust case against Apple
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) opened an antitrust case against Apple because the company did not comply with the warning from the federal executive body about violation of antimonopoly law violation. The warning was issued by Apple on August 30, 2021: FAS concluded that Apple reports a dominant position in the distribution market for iOS applications, the FAS press service reports.
The Office includes signs of violation of clause 3 of part 1 of article 10 of the Competition Law: to the counterparty of the terms of the contract, unfavorable for him or not related to the subject of the contract.
What is the claim
According to the department, the FAS received complaints from users and application developers: Apple’s commission is from 15% to 30% from each payment in the App Store, and it is sometimes more profitable for an iOS device user to buy goods directly on the seller’s website. However, the guide for application developers in the App Store prohibits payment for information about the availability of an alternative method, FAS said.
Apple ignored the FAS warning.
The application does not contain additional links to the developer’s site or registration forms that take the user to the site in an external browser – otherwise they will simply not be allowed into the marketplace. This company policy restricts application developers. This can lead to higher prices for developer products. In August 2020, the FAS recognized the dominant position of Apple 100% in the market for distributing mobile applications for iOS, where it is possible to legally install only applications from the App Store.
Apple has not complied with the Antitrust warning that the violation will be resolved by September 30, 2021. In the event that a company is found to have violated the Competition Law, Apple has imposed a turnover fine on the amount of revenue in the market.
Not the first time
This is not the first time that regulators have tried to open the App Store for business through legal action. In September 2021, Bloomberg announced the changes ordered by the California District Court. The court ruled that Apple should use mobile apps to guide consumers to payment methods because the company’s current policy hides information from users and illegally restricts their choices. The publication also cites Loup Ventures managing partner Gene Munster, who believes that the company could lose from $ 1 billion to $ 4 billion due to court decisions – depending on the number of developers who decide to use the new one, use it.
IT systems of the Pension Fund of Russia and Moscow courts to issue payments for children
IT in the public sector
In May 2021, Cnews reported on Apple’s lawsuit, which the company filed with the Moscow Arbitration Court against the FAS. In it, the company disputes a turnover fine of RUB 906.3 million, which the department imposed on the company in April 2021. Because of the case on the complaint from Kaspersky Lab, Apple received a fine for using a dominant position in the mobile applications market.
The case against Apple, initiated by the FAS in 2019, was based on accusations of Kaspersky Lab of creating obstacles on the part of an American company to distribute its application for the parent Kaspersky Safe Kids on the Apple iOS mobile platform. For example, Apple obliged the LC to cut the functionality of the application by removing it. Apple Safari.
Daria Lebedeva