Apple Faces New Dutch Fines in Dating Apps Dispute
(Bloomberg) -- The Dutch consumer protection regulator is preparing to issue Apple Inc. with fresh fines after the watchdog found that the changes the technology giant made to how dating apps can bill customers were “insufficient.”
“Apple still uses unfair conditions for dating-app providers in the Netherlands,” the Authority for Consumers & Markets said in a statement. Its own investigation, plus market consultation and expert analysis have demonstrated that, the regulator said.
Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
The ACM, as its known, has already penalized Apple 50 million euros ($53 million) for rule breaking. The Cupertino, California-based company had filed a proposal to fully comply with an order to offer payments outside the app store to dating app providers after the fine.
That proposal offers improvements “but these still fall short of meeting European and Dutch rules,” the regulator said, adding that it continues to hold discussions with Apple about the issues.
Apple usually requires developers to use its own payment system, which helps it ensure a commission for apps on its platform.
That tight control over app payments has attracted lawsuits and antitrust scrutiny, often focusing on Apple's refusal to allow developers steer users to other payment methods. The ACM insisted Apple isn't complying with its antitrust regulations, slapping the company with a series of weekly fines.
“As the previous order subject to periodic penalty payments failed to deliver the desired outcome, ACM is currently preparing a new order subject to periodic penalty payments,” said the regulator.
©2022 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
