Apple has paid a penalty of 1.2 billion rubles ($13.5 million) to the Russian government after Moscow found the company to be in violation of its antimonopoly laws. The violation involved Apple preventing iOS users from using alternative app stores other than the App Store for in-app purchases (IAP).
The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) in Russia reported the payment on Monday, explaining that Apple was found to have violated Russian antimonopoly law in July 2022. The payment was made on January 19th and went “into the budget of the Russian Federation,” according to FAS.
In a statement published in Russian, FAS stated that “Apple prohibited iOS app developers from informing customers in the app about the possibility of making purchases outside of the App Store and using alternative payment methods.”
The penalty was imposed due to Apple’s decision to prohibit developers from offering IAP in a way that bypassed Cupertino’s 30% commission. The makers of the popular game Fortnite caused a stir in 2020 when they were banned from the App Store for offering IAP outside of Apple’s reach and filed a lawsuit against the company.
The US Supreme Court, which recently declined to hear the appeals of both Epic and Apple in their years-long dispute, effectively ruled in favor of Apple in the US. However, lower courts have ruled that Apple must allow developers to direct users outside of the app store for purchases. Apple still intends to collect a 27% fee for IAP made outside of the App Store, much to the frustration of many developers.
FAS had already imposed a penalty of 906 million rubles ($12.1 million at the time) on Apple last year after finding that the company had abused its dominant position by rejecting the app from Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky. Apple “respectfully disagreed” with FAS’s decision in that case, but it appears that they paid the penalty nonetheless.
In 2017, FAS also penalized Apple for illegally fixing prices for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 devices in Russia.
In 2022, Russian authorities also imposed penalties on Apple, Zoom, and internet speed testing company Ookla for failing to store data of Russian citizens within Russia.
Like many other tech companies, Apple withdrew from the Russian market shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, but the latest iPhones have since become available in the country.
Russia legalized parallel imports of goods in March 2022, effectively creating a legal gray market for goods that could not be obtained after companies fled the country to avoid sanctions. Remaining Apple devices and those imported through parallel import mechanisms have been available for sale in Russia since then.
The source of the article is from the blog agogs.sk