Apple fined for the tenth time (maximum penalty) by the Netherlands over dating apps payments

Alright now, Apple has been having some issues with the Netherlands since the beginning of this year, and so far, it has been fined several times for not complying with a policy on app commissions... several times? More like, this time, Apple is getting the tenth fine by the country over dating apps and the App Store commission fee, reports AppleInsider.

Apple gets fined by the Netherlands for the tenth time

It seems that Dutch regulators are quite unhappy with Apple and now, Cupertino has been fined for the tenth time. Pretty much this means the company now has to pay the maximum of 50 million euro (approximately $55 million) fine, and this is because the company has failed to comply with the order the country issued on Dutch dating apps and the App Store payments.

A Dutch regulator also warned that this is far from over and even higher penalties may hit Apple if the ordeal continues.

The Authority of Consumers and Markets (ACM) has now confirmed what was reported as a possibility earlier, that Apple has failed to comply with its order on Dutch dating apps. The thing is, the Netherlands wants Cupertino to enable third-party payments for dating apps in the Netherlands regional App Store.

As some of you may know, Apple takes a commission from any purchase made on the App Store, and the App Store is the only way you can pay for downloaded apps on iPhones and iPads. The Netherlands wants Apple to allow people to use third-party payment systems when paying for Dutch dating apps.

So far, it has been ten weeks that the country has been fining Apple by 5 million euro per week. The Dutch authorities believe Apple is not properly complying with the order, despite several proposals issued by Cupertino.

On March 22, the company submitted a new proposal but it was deemed that it didn't comply, and therefore, Apple had reached the maximum issued penalty.

The Dutch Authority of Consumers and Markets stated that although it welcomes Apple's proposal, the thing is that "the adjusted proposal should result in definitive conditions for dating-app providers that wish to use the App Store." What this is saying is that Apple's proposal did not have definitive conditions, and that's why the Dutch regulators did not accept it as compliant.

The statement continues on to say that when a proposal with definitive conditions is sent by Apple, the ACM will consult with market participants (pretty much meaning dating app providers in the country) before it issues a decision of compliance.

You may have noticed that Apple has to pay the maximum fine. However, this doesn't mean the Netherlands cannot do anything anymore: the ACM warns that more payments could come in the future. The authority body could even impose another order that has Apple paying periodic penalty payments if it continues to not comply.

On top of that, the ACM states that these new fines could be even higher and that they could stimulate Apple to comply with the order.

Okay, but let's get some things straight. A $55 million fine is quite a considerable sum for many companies, but we all can imagine that Apple has a pretty big revenue and cash reserves, which doesn't necessarily mean the fine will affect it that much. It is still unknown whether the Netherlands will impose a big enough fine to urge Apple into prompt action on the matter.

The thing is, that after five consecutive weeks of fines, the ACM was concerned that Apple is not making any serious proposals that would help it really comply with the order. Now, it is the tenth week, and not much seems to be changing.