On Thursday, Apple announced revisions to its App Store regulations and fees within the European Union, following directives from the bloc’s antitrust regulators to eliminate commercial obstacles that prevent customers from making purchases outside of the store.
The tech giant revealed that developers will incur a processing fee of 20 percent for transactions conducted via the App Store. However, under Apple’s small-business program, this fee could be reduced to as much as 13 percent.
For developers opting to direct customers to external payment methods, the fees will range from a minimum of five percent to a maximum of 15 percent. Additionally, developers will have the freedom to include an unlimited number of links that guide users to alternative payment options.
These adjustments are part of Apple’s effort to mitigate potential penalties of five percent of its average daily worldwide revenue, equating to approximately 50 million euros ($58 million or roughly Rs. 496 crore) each day. The company has been given 60 days to demonstrate compliance with the European Union’s Digital Markets Act. Earlier, Apple had paid a substantial fine of 500 million euros ($580 million or around Rs. 4,962 crore) imposed by EU antitrust authorities in April.
Apple expressed its disagreement with the European Commission’s demands, stating, “The European Commission is requiring Apple to make a series of additional changes to the App Store. We disagree with this outcome and plan to appeal.”
The European Commission indicated that it will assess Apple’s modifications to ensure adherence to the Digital Markets Act.
In its statement, the Commission noted, “As part of this assessment, we consider it particularly important to obtain the views of market operators and interested third parties before deciding on next steps.”
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, took to the social media platform X to criticize Apple’s changes, describing them as “a mockery of fair competition in digital markets.” He argued that applications utilizing alternative payment methods not only face a tax but also suffer significant commercial disadvantages within the App Store.
Apple has not yet responded to Sweeney’s comments.
© Thomson Reuters 2025
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