The Brazilian antitrust authority, Cade, announced on Monday that Apple is required to remove its restrictions on payment methods for in-app purchases. This decision comes as Cade begins an investigation following a complaint from Latin American e-commerce leader MercadoLibre.
Apple has opted not to comment on the situation in Brazil, while MercadoLibre has yet to respond to inquiries made outside regular business hours.
MercadoLibre’s complaint, lodged in 2022 in both Brazil and Mexico, alleges that Apple enforces a series of limitations regarding the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases. The complaint specifically calls out Apple’s ban on apps distributing third-party digital goods and services, which include movies, music, video games, books, and other written content.
According to the complaint, MercadoLibre has accused Apple of mandating that developers offering digital goods or services within their apps must utilize Apple’s proprietary payment system and restricts them from directing consumers to their own websites for purchases.
In response, Cade has ruled that Apple must permit app developers to incorporate tools that allow customers to make purchases for services or products externally, such as through hyperlinks to outside websites.
Additionally, the regulatory body specified that Apple must enable app developers to provide alternative payment processing options besides its own system.
Cade has given Apple a deadline of 20 days to implement these measures. Failure to comply will result in a fine of 250,000 reais (approximately $43,000 or roughly 36 lakh rupees) for each day of non-compliance.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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