Apple’s $55 million fine over in-app payments for Dutch dating apps could start growing faster

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

If the Dutch competition regulator doesn't approve of Apple's latest proposal to address its demands to allow dating apps to use alternate formats of payments, Apple could pay an even larger periodic fine. Apple has been fined 10 times by the Dutch authority for consumers and markets for failing to comply with their orders.

The new proposal submitted by Apple is currently under review by the ACM, which may force Apple to pay another round of fines. The new proposal will be passed to developers for evaluation if it leads to definitive conditions for dating apps. The final decision on whether or not Apple is in compliance will be given by the ACM.

On Sunday, March 27, Apple adjusted its proposal concerning compliance with the requirements set by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) under Dutch and European competition rules. ACM welcomes Apple’s current step. The adjusted proposal should result in definitive conditions for dating-app providers that wish to use the App Store. Once the proposal for definitive conditions has been received, ACM will submit it to market participants for consultation. ACM will then as soon as possible hand down its decision whether Apple, when implementing those definitive conditions, is in compliance with ACM’s requirement that alternative methods of payment should be possible in dating apps.

Until last weekend, Apple still had not met ACM’s requirements. That is why it has to pay a tenth penalty payment, which means that Apple must pay the maximum penalty of 50 million euros. If ACM comes to the conclusion that Apple does not meet the requirements, ACM may impose another order subject to periodic penalty payments (with possibly higher penalties this time around) in order to stimulate Apple to comply with the order.

The company hasn't been the most flexible when it comes to complying with the orders. In January, Apple said it would allow dating apps to offer alternate payment options, but only if developers created and uploaded a separate version of their app for the Netherlands. It would charge the apps a commission of 27 percent instead of 30 percent on purchases made with other payment providers.

Rick VanMeter is the executive director of the Coalition for App Fairness.

Apple's decision to block developers from incorporating alternate payment options has long been criticized by a number of tech companies. Last week, it was announced that the Play Store will be the first place where developers will be able to use other payment options.

The Verge reached out to Apple, but didn't hear back.