The Brazilian antitrust watchdog Cade has ruled that Apple must lift all restrictions related to in-app purchases. The Cupertino-based company has 20 days to comply, or it will face a $43,000 fine per day.
The decision comes after Mercado Libre, an online merchant, filed a complaint back in 2022 against Apple for anti-competitive practices. The Brazilian regulator forces Apple to either allow developers to link to external websites for payments and subscription options or let all developers handle payments themselves.
This isn’t the first court ruling against Apple’s in-app purchases policies. The US, EU, South Korea, and Japan have all forced Apple to allow third-party app payment options.
