Apple Refuses to Comply with Dutch Authorities Over App Store Practices

Tech giant Apple faced another hefty fine this week from Dutch regulators over its non-compliance with a December ruling regarding its Apple Store operations. The company now owes over 25 million euros for failing to change its practices, according to Tech Crunch. 

The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) ordered Apple to allow dating apps to use third party payment systems for in-app purchases. Prior to the ruling, developers had no choice but to go through the Apple Store for payment processing, and in addition, Apple charged them a thirty percent commission for all in-app purchases. Match Group had joined other companies in asking for an investigation into the company’s practices, claiming they were losing revenue and were unable to directly help customers with billing questions.

The ACM ordered Apple to pay the Authority five million euros per week until the issue is fixed, which has now gone unresolved five weeks past the deadline, bringing their total fines to about 25 million euros, according to Tech Crunch. Apple has fought the ruling, although it did make adjustments to its Store and allowed dating apps to use third-party payment platforms. However, Apple made the process difficult by forcing the app developers to pay a 27 percent fee on sales made through third parties, so dating app developers would still take a financial hit.

Apple has pushed back on the ruling because if the Dutch Authority sets such a precedent, the rest of Europe could follow suit, severely impacting Apple’s revenue streams.

Apple has so far offered no new proposals for meeting ACM’s guidelines.

According to Tech Crunch, the ACM said in response: “We have clearly explained to Apple how they can comply with ACM’s requirements. So far, however, they have refused to put forward any serious proposals. We find Apple’s attitude regrettable, especially so since ACM’s requirements were upheld in court on December 24. Apple’s so-called ‘solutions’ continue to create too many barriers for dating-app providers that wish to use their own payment systems.”

The regulator went on to say that since Apple holds a dominant position in the market, meaning it’s one of the few platforms where people can download and purchase apps, it comes with “extra responsibilities vis-à-vis its buyers and, more broadly, society at large.”

The ACM went on to say: “In that context, it cannot abuse its dominant position. Apple’s conditions will thus have to take into account the interests of buyers.”

The Netherlands isn’t the only country keeping an eye on tech giants like Apple. The EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA) will likely be adopted in the coming months, and so-called “gatekeeper” platforms could face penalties of up to 10 percent of global annual revenue.