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Russia slaps Apple with warning over abusing dominant market position

Federal Antimonopoly Service reported that it had received requests from iOS users and application developers concerning cases when it was cheaper to buy goods on a seller's website, however they took note of the fine print on iPhone or iPad apps, upon logging in under their account

MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has slapped Apple with a warning over abusing its dominant position in the distribution market for iOS applications, the service reported on Monday.

"The FAS of Russia issued a warning to Apple to eliminate signs of violations. The company must comply with it before September 30, 2021," the message said.

The anti-monopoly watchdog reported that it had received requests from iOS users and application developers concerning cases when it was cheaper to buy goods on a seller's website, however they took note of the fine print on iPhone or iPad apps, upon logging in under their account. Accordingly, Apple gets a commission from 15% to 30% for each payment in the App Store, yet users are blocked from being informed about the possibility of purchases outside of it.

According to the App Store’s guidelines mandatory for iOS app developers to follow, it is prohibited to notify app users of an alternative method of payment for an item. This includes information in any form, including links to the developer's site, or a service or registration form leading to the website in a browser.

The tech giant does not allow applications with such characteristics into the marketplace, requiring developers to remove links or change the functionality of the application so that the registration form does not lead to external sites, thereby limiting developers’ independence, which negatively impacts competition and could lead to a hike in prices for products by developers, the FAS emphasized.

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