The Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has been
levying weekly fines of EUR 5 million on Apple since the company missed a
January 15 deadline to make changes ordered by the watchdog.
Apple's app-store payment policies, in particular its
requirement that app developers exclusively use Apple's payment system with
commissions of up to 30 percent, have come under scrutiny by antitrust
officials and lawmakers in several countries, most recently the United States.
Apple asserts in posts on its websites that it has complied
with the ACM's December order, which found it was abusing a dominant market
position and had to change.
But the Dutch watchdog repeated on Monday that Apple had not
complied, and was putting "unnecessary and unreasonable" conditions
on dating app developers.
The ACM singled out a requirement that developers who want
to use non-Apple payment methods must submit a new app to the App Store to do
so, and then convince their customers to switch.
Apple, which says non-Apple payment methods pose a security
risk, did not respond to requests for comment.
The Coalition for App Fairness (CAF), which represents
developers including Tinder owner Match Group, said Apple's strategy is to
delay reforming its app store as long as possible, and to figure out the
minimal amount of reform antitrust officials will accept.
"Every year of delay is another $25 billion in
revenue" for Apple, said CAF representative Damien Geradin. "Wouldn't
you spend a couple of million on lawyers if you can go on for another couple of
years?"
Apple on January 15 said it had complied with the Dutch
regulator's decision, but the regulator responded that the company had not made
changes and had only said it would.
In a February 3 statement Apple had described how developers
could implement alternative payment methods, but the ACM said the company had
not given it enough information to assess what had changed.
Apple says it still intends to charge a 27 percent
commission on any in-app payments it does not process, only slightly below the
30 percent it charges on those it does process.
An ACM spokesperson declined to comment on whether that is acceptable. - Reuters