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| Apple faces a fine in the sixth week in the Netherlands |
The Dutch Consumer and Markets Authority said it had imposed a sixth fine (5 million euros) on Apple for failing to comply with an order first issued last year.
Apple still has to comply with Dutch antitrust regulations. It requires the company to allow local dating apps to use third-party payment technology to sell digital content to app users.
The iPhone manufacturer is now being fined 30 million euros. Since last Monday, the fine has been increased by another 5 million euros.
If the company continues to defend itself against the regulator (up to 50 million euros), another 5 million euros could be added in the coming weeks.
A spokesperson for the agency said, “We did not receive any new directives from the company in the past week to amend our requirements. Therefore, the company has to pay the sixth fine.”
He added: “We explained to the company again in the week of February 14 what we were asking for and why the current offer is insufficient. The company does not appear to be making any changes to its original proposal to meet the requirements.
The company has been silent on the matter for weeks, including when the EU's chief digital strategist spoke out last week, accusing it of intentionally paying fines rather than following orders.
Apple has been silent on this issue for weeks
Reuters reported that the company sent a letter to the authorities saying it had complied with the regulator's order. She believes a little change in technology is needed for dating app developers to get some credit.
The company previously said it was not supporting the request because it could harm the user experience. While it insists that it is still compatible, it does offer two rights to the developers involved.
In a letter dated February 28 to the authorities, the company wrote that it believed its solution complied with Dutch law.
Dutch regulators say the company imposes unreasonable and unfavorable conditions on developers who want to use an API alternative for in-app payments.
In addition, the panel previously said it was not satisfied with Apple's attempts to limit developers' options to use Apple's built-in APIs or third-party technologies. As a result, they cannot use all the options in the same application.