SAEDNEWS: Brazil's anti-monopoly regulations mandate that Apple lift in-app payment restrictions. Apple has declined to comment in Brazil, and MercadoLibre did not respond to requests for comment outside of regular business hours.
According to SaedNews, quoting Fararu, Brazil's anti-trust regulator has ordered Apple to lift restrictions on in-app payment methods. Following an investigation by Latin American e-commerce giant MercadoLibre, Brazil's anti-trust watchdog, Cade, instructed Apple to remove payment method restrictions for in-app purchases.
According to Hamshahri Online, Brazil's anti-trust regulator Cade has ruled that Apple must lift all restrictions related to in-app purchases. The Cupertino-based company has 20 days to comply with this law, or it will face a daily fine of $43,000.
This decision was made after MercadoLibre, an online retailer, filed a complaint against Apple in 2022 for anti-competitive practices.
The Brazilian regulator is forcing Apple to either allow developers to link to external websites for payments and subscription options or permit all developers to handle payments themselves.
This is not the first court ruling against Apple's in-app purchase policies. The United States, the European Union, South Korea, and Japan have all forced Apple to allow third-party app payment options.
