Apple guilty of breaking EU competition laws but no decision yet on penalty

The EU competition regulator said Apple has been guilty of breaching EU competition laws, announced Monday. Competition Commissioner of the European Union Margaret Vestager said, "Apple's unfair protection from competition deprived consumers of choices on its App Store." She added that the Commission has told Apple about its decision. No decision has still been taken on penalty or punishment.

She said that after the investigation started in March, we have found in preliminary conclusion that Apple has prevented app developers of its App Store from offering options to consumers, violating the Digital Market Act. Vestager said that an investigation is currently being initiated against Apple regarding new contractual terms for third-party app developers and the App Store. Apple has three business terms to which the regulators have objected. These business terms do not allow developers to connect and direct their customers as freely as possible.

These are Apple's three significant terms: The three significant terms imposed on the developers of apps by Apple are that they cannot provide any pricing information inside an app. Moreover, one cannot communicate with the customer in any manner to push offers available on other distribution channels. Lastly, on another front, owing to the denial of Apple to access essential hardware and software on its phones to mobile wallet app developers the competition could not take off.

A statement from the European Commission has said that, according to its investigation results, iPhone maker Apple has violated the Digital Markets Act of this group of 27 countries by having prohibited developers from using its App Store.

Apple also faces similar allegations in the US. The US Justice Department is also investigating Apple. Apps like Spotify have been complaining against Apple that when iPhone users subscribe to Spotify, they have to pay a 30% commission to Apple.