Apple’s proposed changes to its App Store policies governing developers in the European Union might receive approval from antitrust regulators soon. According to a recent report, EU regulators are likely to accept the iPhone maker’s modified policies in the near future, which would help Apple avoid daily fines of 5 percent of its average daily global revenue. The company was fined EUR 500 million (roughly Rs. 5,100 crore) in April for failing to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act.
Apple Could Avoid Daily Fines With EU Approval of Proposed App Store Changes
According to a Reuters report citing unnamed sources aware of the matter, the European Commission could give Apple’s revised App Store policies the go-ahead “in the coming weeks”, but the timeline was not finalised. The EU watchdog told the news agency that it was still assessing the company’s proposed changes, and that it was keeping its options open.
The Cupertino company announced changes to its App Store polices last month, as part of efforts to comply with the DMA. The new policies state that smaller developers would pay as little as 13 percent of purchases made using the App Store as a processing fee, while other developers would pay a 20 percent fee.
The new rules also cap the processing fee for transactions outside the App Store at 15 percent, and developers could pay as little as 5 percent, under the company’s new policy. In order to comply with the DMA, Apple wouldn’t prevent developers in the EU from including links to external payment methods inside their apps. This is a limitation that applies to developers in India and other countries.
At the time, EU antitrust regulators gave the company 60 days to comply with the DMA regulations and remove limitations on developers’ ability to inform users about cheaper prices outside the App Store, or link to these deals and alternative payment options.
If Apple’s modified App Store policies are green lit by EU antitrust regulators, the company will avoid harsh daily fines, which could go up to EUR 50 million (roughly Rs. 510 crore), or 5 percent of the company’s average daily global revenue. The company has already paid the EUR 500 million (roughly Rs. 5,100 crore) levied by the EU in April, but its latest changes might just be enough to convince EU regulators to approve its revised App Store policies for developers in the region.
