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Apple fined $15.5 million as South Korea orders changes to App Store rules
Apple and Google were fined today in South Korea over their app payment practices, with regulators also ordering both companies to change several policies. Here are the details.
South Korea’s Korea Media and Communications Commission (KMCC) announced today a series of fines and corrective orders against Apple and Google over violations of the country’s Telecommunications Business Act.
Specifically for Apple, the KMCC imposed a fine of 20.81 billion won (approximately $15.5 million) and ordered the company to revise its App Store policies regarding payment methods and app review procedures, as well as prevent what it referred to as “discriminatory commission” practices from recurring.
This is the first enforcement case under the 2021 amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, which introduced prohibited acts for app market operators, such as forcing specific payment methods and unfairly delaying app reviews.
In essence, the decision centers around three violations: forcing specific payment methods, unfairly delaying app reviews, and imposing discriminatory commissions.
On the payment methods front, the KMCC said Apple and Google “effectively forced” developers to use their own in-app payment systems by imposing a 26% commission and additional restrictions on third-party alternatives.
“This constitutes an act in which an app market operator unfairly uses its position in transactions to force mobile content providers and others to use a specific payment method,” the KMCC said.
As a result, Apple and Google must revise their policies to allow external payment methods and address restrictions imposed on developers using alternative payment systems.
As for the app review process, the KMCC found that Apple and Google “delayed app reviews, for example by not providing specific reasons when reviews were delayed or not clearly responding to individual inquiries about the reasons for delays and expected timelines.”
Accordingly, Apple and Google must revise their app review procedures to address these issues.