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Apple set to face first-ever fine under EU’s Digital Markets Act: Report

An EU investigation had found that Apple App Store policies harmed competition and violated provisions of the DMA.

Under the European Union's landmark Digital Markets Act that took effect last year, Apple must allow rivals and app developers to inter-operate with its own services or risk a fine of as much as 10% of its global annual turnover. (Photo: Reuters)

Apple could soon become the first company to be hit with a fine for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), the competition-specific legislation of the European Union (EU) that came into effect last year.

The European Commission is preparing to impose a penalty on the iPhone-maker months after the regulatory authority found that Apple App Store’s anti-steering policies harmed competition and breached provisions of the DMA, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The fine will most likely be announced by the end of November this year as Margrethe Vestager, the EU commissioner of competition, will be leaving office soon.

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While the amount that Apple will have to pay as fine is still unclear, the DMA states that companies can be charged up to 10 per cent of their annual global revenue and up to 20 per cent for repeat offenses.

This means that Apple might have to pay around $39 billion in penalty, based on its revenue last year ($394 billion).

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In March 2024, EU authorities imposed a €1.84 billion (around $2 billion) fine on Apple after its investigation of a complaint filed by Spotify found that the tech giant had breached the law by charging app developers a fee for steering customers towards subscription channels other than its App Store

Another EU antitrust case against the big tech company had to do with Apple Pay. It was accused of abusing its dominant position in the market by not allowing app developers to offer their own ‘tap-to-pay’ payment options on iPhones. However, in July 2024, the EU moved to resolve this particular antitrust case after Apple pledged to open up its ‘tap-to-pay’ iPhone payment system to rivals.

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In September 2024, the EU emerged victorious in a protracted legal battle against Apple over unlawful aid that was given to the company by the Irish government. The final ruling delivered by the EU’s top court means that Apple will have to clear a whopping 13 billion euro unpaid tax bill.

Recently, Apple’s mounting fines and legal woes became an election issue in the US after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump claimed that CEO Tim Cook had dialed him to complain about the penalties being imposed on the company in the EU.