British Court Discusses IDR 28.4 Trillion Fines For Apple For App Store Fees

Apple forces developers to charge consumers with commission fees (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - The British Competition Appeal Court (Competition Approach Tribunal) began a class action lawsuit against Apple's App Store costs on Monday, January 13, 2025. This lawsuit has the potential to generate fines of up to 1.5 billion pounds (1.83 billion US dollars or around Rp28.4 trillion).

Plaintiffs, led by Dr. Total Kent, digital economist and lecturer at King's College, oppose commissions of up to 30 percent that Apple imposes on in-app purchases (IAP). The lawsuit alleges that Apple is running its App Store as an illegal monopoly.

The lawsuit states that Apple is forcing developers to charge consumers commission fees in the form of higher app prices. Apple itself calls this lawsuit "baseless" in court documents.

Dr. Kent said in his statement that Apple "does not have the right" to charge such a commission, especially when Apple restricts user access to platforms and developers that can offer more competitive prices.

"Apple imposes unfair fees on its users," Kent said in the plaintiff's document, noting that App Store's global revenue would reach more than 15 billion US dollars (Rp244.7 trillion) by 2021. "Apple will not be able to impose such high costs if competing platforms and payment systems are allowed to compete on their devices."

In its defense, Apple stated that the "commissions imposed by the App Store are in line with other digital markets." The company noted that 84 percent of apps on the App Store are free, and developers don't pay any fees to Apple.

For most developers paying commissions for selling goods or digital services, they are eligible for a commission rate of 15 percent. This lower rate was introduced in 2021 for developers with annual revenues of less than US$1 million (Rp16.3 billion), the same year as the beginning of this lawsuit.

Apple also confirmed that commission fees are considered reasonable because they cover the costs of app stores and services provided to developers, such as security, promotions, and digital tools.

This case has similarities with the dispute between Apple vs Epic Games, which is still in legal proceedings over the App Store monopoly. The British court is expected to last about seven weeks, with several officials including Apple's CFO, kolan Parekh, expected to testify.