Happy Valentine’s Day: The Netherlands continues against Apple in “dating app riot”

Nice then: The Netherlands is going a step further in the lawsuit against Apple regarding the “dating app riot”. And that on Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day, we know the clichés. Pamper your partner a little extra to celebrate your love, you know it. Or of course looking extra hard for a (new) partner, with or without the help of a dating app. Where fire is thrown again. By Apple. Or through the Netherlands?

“Dating app riot”

What was that again? Apple levies a kind of tax on app payments in and around the App Store. When you make a payment through the App Store, part of it goes to Apple. This also applies to subscriptions to apps that you take out via your iPhone. Practical example: if you want the paid version of Lexa or Tinder, you have to pay for it and part of that payment goes to Apple. You can take out the subscription elsewhere, but Apple wants to prevent that. The latter is a thorn in the side of our Dutch Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM). So much for the riot itself, which we already covered.

Another fine

Apple had as a solution that dating apps get an exception. They do not have to pay a 30 percent commission, but 27 percent. With that, developers of a dating app pay less than other apps and the problem should be solved. But today – on Valentine’s Day, of course – the response from ACM is that this is absolutely not in agreement. Apple wants to play on ‘ensuring consumer safety when regulated through Apple’. The ACM finds that, jofelly said, foolish. A different solution must be found and Apple will again receive a charge of five million euros on behalf of the ACM. And the saga continues…

Apple has not yet responded. The total that ACM demands from Apple to make up for this is $ 20 million in charges or fines.