On the wire ! Apple has transmitted on March 27 to the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) a new proposal for the authorization of in-app payments for dating apps. The day before the payment of the last installment of the fine of 50 million euros imposed by the ACM.
Apple waited until the last moment to send a second offer
In January, the ACM ordered Apple to pay a fine of €5 million a week, up to €50 million, as long as the company did not comply with its decision made a month earlier. . The Dutch antitrust authority had forced Cupertino to open its in-app payment system for dating apps in the country.
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At the beginning of February Apple had sent a first proposal. It required developers to bring a separate service online in the Netherlands from the rest of the world to be able to add their own payment system. The commission recovered by the Apple brand on this system was to drop from 30% to… 27%. An offer deemed largely unsatisfactory by the ACM which maintained the weekly fine.
Apple therefore waited until the last moment and paid 50 million euros to send a second project to the authority. She warned, ” If the ACM finds that Apple is not meeting the requirements, it can issue another order with periodic penalty payments (with potentially higher penalties this time) to induce Apple to comply with the order “.
She nevertheless welcomed the approach of the apple brand. The ACM believes that ” Adjusted proposal expected to result in final terms for dating app providers who want to use the App Store “. Details of Apple’s offer were not disclosed.
It will be examined by the ACM and especially submitted to dating applications for evaluation. It is on this basis that the authority will decide whether or not Apple is compliant. The time frame before this decision was made has not been disclosed.
A choice that has none?
Rick VanMeter, executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness, a business alliance fighting to open up Apple and Google’s payment systems, lashed out at The Verge the slowness with which Cupertino ended up reacting, ” Only a monopolistic player would rather pay 50 million euros in fines than simply comply with the rule of law “.
Epic Games, Spotify, at the forefront of this fight for in-app payment systems are founding members of the coalition. This is also the case with match group, one of the plaintiffs in this antitrust fight in the Netherlands.
If Apple’s proposal is satisfactory for dating application developers, this could extend this opening to the rest of Europe and even the world. It could also give ideas to other App Store application developers. For its part, Google is experimenting with the opening of its system in partnership with Spotify. An opening that could in any case be imposed by the entry into force of the Digital Markets Act within the European Union.