The Dutch antitrust regulator on Monday imposed another antitrust fine on Apple for failing to allow Dutch software application makers to use non-Apple payment methods to use non-Apple payment methods on the App Store. The fifth fine of its kind (5 x 5 million total 25 million) for payment method dating apps.
Judging from previous announcements, the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) fined Apple 5 million euros a week for missing a Jan. 15 deadline to complete changes ordered by the regulator.
It is worth mentioning that Apple’s App Store payment policy, especially requiring app developers to use the Apple Pay system exclusively and charging a commission of up to 30%, has been subject to antitrust authorities and lawmakers in many countries (especially the United States).
Apple once claimed on its website that it complied with an order issued by the ACM in December because “it is abusing its market dominance and must make changes,” but the Dutch regulator said Apple did not comply, saying only that it “will. change” and imposed “unnecessary and unreasonable” conditions on dating app developers.
In addition, ACM has made a requirement that developers who want to use non-Apple payment methods must submit a new app to the App Store and then convince their customers to switch to the new version.
The Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority said Apple’s new payment terms for dating apps were “unreasonable” and would create additional obstacles”. The regulator said that the current Apple “still does not meet the ” at the request of the antitrust authorities.