THE COURT CONFIRMED LEGALITY OF 1.1 BILLION RUB FINE TO APPLE

The company must pay fine for abuse of a dominant position

The Arbitration Court of the city of Moscow denied Apple Inc. in a lawsuit to appeal the ruling and the remedies of the authority, as well as the decision on the imposition of a fine.

In July 2022, the authority recognized the company as violating the antimonopoly legislation. Apple imposed on Russian developers of iOS applications the need to use the company's payment tool in their applications.

In particular, the App Store rules prohibited iOS app developers from informing customers inside the app about the possibility of paying for purchases outside the App Store, as well as using alternative payment methods. The company demanded that developers remove links to their Internet resources and change the functionality of the application so that the registration form does not lead to external sites. Otherwise, the company would not allow applications in the App Store.

On January 17, 2023, FAS Russia imposed a turnover fine of 1,177,988,700 rubles (more than 17 million US dollars) on Apple Inc. for violating antimonopoly legislation*.

The company tried to appeal the ruling and the remedies of the authority, as well as the ruling on the imposition of a fine, but the court of first instance upheld the position of FAS Russia.

For reference:

* According to Part 2 of Article 14.31 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation