Back in January, the Netherlands ordered Apple to allow locally available dating apps to use third-party systems to collect payments. The company had until January 15th to comply with the ruling or face fines. According to Reuters, the company has yet to adhere to the order in a way that satisfies the country’s Authority for Consumers and Markets regulator.
Last week, Apple reportedly submitted a new proposal that the ACM rejected. No details about the offer, including information on how it differed from the company’s current approach, were shared by Reuters. When Apple announced it would comply with the ACM’s order in January, it said it would take a 27 percent commission from third-party transactions. To date, the regulator has fined Apple to the tune of €45 million (approximately $49 million). According to Reuters, the ACM will fine Apple again next week. At that point, the company could face even higher monetary penalties.
The fines come as Apple and other app store operators face increasing pressure to open their marketplaces to third-party payment systems. Last August, South Korea passed a law requiring all major app stores to offer alternate payment methods. In the last week, that pressure and the increasing likelihood of the US and EU passing similar legislation translated to Google announcing it would work with Spotify to test alternatives to its Play Store billing system. Apple has so far resisted those efforts, arguing they would force new security and privacy risks upon its customers.
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