Apple Violated Antitrust Law Over App Store Rules, Russian Antimonopoly Service Says

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) on Tuesday determined that Apple violated antitrust laws for abusing its dominant position in the application market.

"FAS found that Apple violated antitrust laws. The company abused its dominant position in the iOS app distribution market," the agency said, adding that the antitrust case was opened against the company in October 2021.

The size of the turnover fine for the company will be determined in the course of an administrative investigation, the agency added.

FAS noted that, according to the Russian legislation, the amount of the fine for legal entities ranges from 1% to 15% of the proceeds from the sale of goods on the market where the administrative offense was committed.

According to FAS, the internal market on Apple devices, App Store, bans app developers from informing customers inside the app about the possibility of paying for purchases outside the App Store, as well as using alternative payment methods.

On Monday, the European Commission passed a new law to ensure fair digital competition. Among other new restrictive measures, large internet companies are no longer allowed to prohibit developers from using third-party payment platforms to sell applications.