Brazil threatens Apple with daily fines for restrictions in App Store

Brazil’s antitrust authority has ordered Apple to lift the App Store digital content store’s restriction on the use of third-party payment systems, and to allow developers to offer users alternative payment methods for in-app purchases. The iPhone maker was given 20 days to comply, after which the company faces a fine of $43,000 per day.

Image Source: Apple

The antitrust authority’s decision comes in response to a complaint filed in 2022 by Latin America’s largest e-commerce platform, MercadoLibre. The company accused Apple of abusing its monopoly position to force developers to use only its payment system and not allow them to redirect users to third-party analogues.

Now the Brazilian regulator has ordered the American company to allow application developers to integrate tools into their products that allow customers to make purchases outside the Apple ecosystem. We are talking, among other things, about the ability for developers to post links to external websites and permission to sell third-party products and services in their applications.

Apple’s antitrust problems in Brazil are in many ways similar to similar problems in the European Union that the company faced previously. In March 2024, the European Commission fined the iPhone manufacturer $1.95 billion for prohibiting developers of streaming music applications from informing users about the opportunity to subscribe cheaper outside the Apple ecosystem. This decision followed a complaint from Spotify.