Datings apps plan to give no break for Apple, as Tinder owner Match Group filed an antitrust case against the Cupertino company, now in India. It accuses Apple of “monopolist conduct” by forcing developers to pay high commissions for in-app purchases.
If you’re familiar with companies filing antitrust cases against Apple, you know that recently the Dutch watchdog required the Cupertino company to allow dating apps to offer third-party payment options. Here’s what the Authority for Consumers and Markets of the Netherlands said in June:
Apple has changed its unfair conditions, and will now allow different methods of payment in Dutch dating apps. (…) Until recently, customers of dating apps had only been able to pay using the payment method that Apple imposed. In ACM’s opinion, Apple abused its dominant position with those practices. From now on, dating-app providers are able to let their customers pay in different ways. ACM forced these changes by imposing an order subject to periodic penalty payments. In the end, the sum of all penalty payments totaled 50 million euros.
Now, according to Reuters, Tinder-owner Match Group argues, “Apple’s conduct restricts innovation and development of app developers that offer digital services by enforcing the use of its proprietary in-app purchase system and ‘excessive’ 30% commission”
“Apple is therefore leveraging its dominant position in the iOS App Store market, to promote the exclusive use of its own payment solution,” Mark Buse, head of global government relations for Match, said in the filing.
As of now, neither Apple nor the Competition Commission of India (CCI) have responded to Reuters’ queries. According to the publication, Tinder is one of the most popular dating apps in the country, accounting “for about 51% of consumer spending in the top five dating apps during the second quarter of this year, data from Sensor Tower shows.”
9to5Mac will keep a close eye on this story alongside other antitrust cases filed against Apple, and we’ll report back once we hear more about them.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments