Apple threw away $52m over Dutch App Store rules but no more fines will come

Apple will not have to pay any more fines to the Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) after it confirmed that the iPhone-maker has finally complied with its App Store requirements. But the company has already paid $52 million in fines to get to this point.

The whole affair stemmed from an ACM order that required Apple allow dating apps in the Dutch App Store to use payment methods other than Apple’s, something that the company dragged its feet on but ultimately complied with. The ACM accused Apple of abusing its position, taking a percentage of all sales and subscriptions as a result.

Dating-app providers must be allowed to choose a method of payment in their apps and to have the ability to refer customers to their own websites for payment. Dating-app providers cannot be forced to use Apple’s payment method or else be barred from the App Store. That is not allowed under European and Dutch competition rules. Abuse of dominance drives up the price, reduces the quality of products and services, and restricts innovation.

Apple began paying weekly fines in January as it worked to make the technical changes required to allow third-party payments via the App Store. It didn’t do so willingly, however, and was accused of making the process more difficult than it needed to be. Apple, for its part, thought it had done enough. Apple subsequently removed its requirement that Dutch dating apps submit two distinct binaries for review — one with third-party payments and one without.

However, the ACM has now confirmed that Apple now complies with its requirements and, as a result, will not face any more fines or orders — it had already paid the maximum €50 million in fines, but a new order would have reset the count.

In January 2022, the periodic penalty payments started to kick in, and went up to the maximum of 50 million euros. That is why Apple must pay a total penalty of 50 million euros. Apple now complies with the rules. That is why ACM no longer needs to impose a new order subject to periodic penalty payments. Over the past few months, ACM had collected information from dating-app providers and independent experts before its assessment that Apple complied with the order.

Apple recently shared more details about developer requirements for its StoreKit External Entitlement that would allow third-party payment systems to be used in apps. That update also included one more swipe at the ACM with Apple maintaining that it believes allowing third-party payments will impact users’ privacy.

We don’t believe some of these changes are in the best interests of our users’ privacy or data security. Because Apple is committed to constructive engagement with regulators, we’re making the additional changes at the ACM’s request. As we’ve previously said, we disagree with the ACM’s original order and are appealing it.

It’s important to note that these changes only apply to the Dutch App Store and even then, only to dating apps. All other apps, and all apps internationally, must continue to use the App Store payment systems as before.