Brazil’s competition authority rules that Apple must lift restrictions on in-app payments

Brazil’s antitrust regulator Cade said on Monday that Apple should lift restrictions on payment methods for items including in-app purchases, as the watchdog launched an investigation into a complaint filed by Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre.

Apple in Brazil declined to comment. MercadoLibre did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

The MercadoLibre complaint, filed in 2022 in Brazil and Mexico, accused Apple of imposing a series of restrictions on the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases, including banning apps from distributing third-party digital goods and services, such as films, music and video. games, books and written content.

In the complaint, MercadoLibre criticized the California tech giant for requiring developers who offer digital goods or services in apps to use Apple’s own payment system and prevent them from directing buyers to their websites.

Cade ruled that Apple should allow app developers to add tools to allow customers to purchase their services or products outside the app, for example through the use of hyperlinks to external websites.

Another preventative measure is that Apple should allow app developers to offer in-app payment processing options other than Apple’s, the regulator added.

Apple will have 20 days to comply with the measures, Cade said, imposing a fine of 250,000 reals (about $43,000, about Rs. 36 lakh) per day if Apple fails to comply.

© Thomson Reuters 2024

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