JAKARTA - Apple's policy of no longer including a charger adapter in the iPhone sales box has once again resulted in legal sanctions. Consumer protection authorities in Brazil have imposed a fine of 20,000 US dollars on the company.
The fine was imposed by the state consumer protection agency Alagoas, Procon-AL, which judged Apple's policy to violate Brazilian consumer protection rules.
Apple is considered to have violated the Consumer Defense Code (CDC) by selling iPhones without including a charger, which is considered an "indispensable item for normal use of the product".
Violate the Principle of Good Faith
Procon-AL CEO Daniel Sampaio delivered a firm criticism of the policy. "In our assessment, by shifting the burden to consumers to separately purchase goods that are essential for the proper use of products, companies have violated the principles of objective good faith, transparency, and consumer vulnerability," said Sampaio.
Initially, the fine was set at around 12,000 US dollars. However, the amount was then raised to 20,000 US dollars on the grounds of weighting factors under Brazilian regulations, including the assessment of Apple's lack of efforts to resolve the issue.
Apple Inc.'s Brazilian subsidiary has 20 days to appeal. If the appeal is rejected, the fine value will be adjusted again based on the IPCA-E inflation index.
Not the First Case
This is not the first time Apple has faced similar sanctions in Brazil. In 2022, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice even ordered a temporary halt to iPhone sales due to the same issue. A year earlier, authorities had also imposed a fine of around 2 million US dollars on Apple for the practice of not including a charger in the box.
Apple's own charger removal policy has been implemented since the launch of the iPhone 12 in 2020. At that time, the company argued that the move was aimed at reducing electronic waste and environmental impact.
However, the Brazilian regulator argues that environmental reasons cannot justify passing on additional costs to consumers.
Interestingly, Apple is not the only company to stumble upon this rule. In 2022, Samsung also faced a lawsuit in Brazil regarding a similar policy that did not include a charger in the sale package of a mobile phone.
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