Apple Inc is facing a London lawsuit over claims it overcharged nearly 20 million U.K. customers for App Store purchases.
A legal action claims, Millions of Apple’s UK customers should be compensated for breaches of competition law.
Allegations by UK
The Apple’s policy of forcing developers to use Apple’s payment systems for in-app purchases and taking up to 30% commission on those transactions is unfair. It claims—-
- Apple deliberately shuts out potential competition
- it requires ordinary users to use Apple’s own payment-processing system
- doing so generates “unlawfully excessive levels of profit”
- the charges are “an unlawful raid on Apple’s customers’ purses”
The claim has been filed in the Competition Appeal Tribunal and calls for Apple to repay UK customers which have been overcharged because of the company’s practices.
It says as many as 19.6 million UK users could be eligible for compensation.
Complainant
King’s College London digital-economy lecturer Dr Rachael Kent, who is taking the case to the tribunal and representing all those affected said this is the behaviour of a monopolist and is unacceptable.
The estimated costs of the Apple for running the App Store were “just $100m” (£71m) – but it had made $15bn (£10.6bn) last year.
Apple achieves this by slapping unjustified charges on its users
Apple Responded
“We believe this lawsuit is meritless and welcome the opportunity to discuss with the court our unwavering commitment to consumers and the many benefits the App Store has delivered to the UK’s innovation economy.”
It highlighted that the 30% cut is “very much in the mainstream of those charged by all other digital marketplaces”, and said 84% of apps on its App Store were free – so developers paid nothing.
Similar Event
In another case, Fortnite maker Epic Games, which has accused the company of using the App Store, and the 15% to 30% commission it takes on in-app purchases in that store, as a way of stifling competition.
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