Apple again faces a heavy fine in the EU for monopolistic behavior

As of the end of March, Apple had to pay more than 45 million euros in fines related to monopolistic practices. (Photo: AFP/VNA)

The European Union (EU) on May 2 accused Apple of violations in blocking third-party service providers from accessing short-range wireless connections (NFCs) on the Apple Pay mobile wallet system. This move will open a new legal battle between the EU and the US technology group.

EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager said preliminary investigation results showed that Apple had unfairly prevented its Apple Pay mobile wallet system from competing. This behavior, if proven, could be considered an abuse of a dominant position and as such is illegal under EU regulations.

The EC investigation opened in 2020 led by Ms. Margrethe Vestager. The investigation found that Apple uses the iPhone’s “tap-as-you-go” function for Apple Pay and not other third-party services such as PayPal, Venmo, etc.

Apple says that allowing third-party services violates the security and privacy of users.

This is not the first time Apple has faced antitrust fines related to Apple Pay. Last year, the EU investigated Apple for charging 30% for third-party apps on the App Store.

Ms. Vestager previously stated that Apple plays a dominant role when it comes to distributing apps and content to users on Apple devices.

Earlier, Spotify also filed a complaint against Apple related to it having to spend 30% from in-app purchases as well as banning users from paying with alternative methods for internal subscriptions. application.

The EU has not set a deadline for the current investigation. If found guilty, Apple could have to pay a fine of up to 10% of global revenue. As of the end of March, Apple had to pay more than 45 million euros in fines related to monopolistic practices.

(According to Vietnam+)