Apple Must Compensate Brazilian Customer Over $1,000 for Selling iPhone Without a Charger, Judge Rules

A judge has ruled that Apple must compensate a Brazilian customer for selling a device without a charge in the box.

There was controversy in 2020 over Apple removing the charger from the box. Apple claims that the decision is equivalent to removing 450,000 cars from the road each year.

The move has caused some public and legal uproar. In the latest development, a judge in Brazil has ordered Apple to compensate a customer nearly $1,000 for the lack of a charging accessory. The report was reported by Tecmundo.

According to article 39 of the Consumer Code (CDC), "tie sale" is an abusive and prohibited practice in Brazil, so it is not allowed to sell cell phone and charger separately. Therefore, Apple is being sentenced after selling an iPhone model and charger separately to a consumer in the city of Goiânia.

According to the result issued by Judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro, of the 6th Civil Court of Goiânia, Apple must compensate the consumer R$ 5 thousand for carrying out the "tie sale" of the company's devices.

Fernando Capez, head of the consumer group Procon-SP, said that Brazil fined Apple $2 million for violating consumer law and disrespecting Brazilian customers.

It was thought that Brazil would force Apple to include a charger in the box for every phone it sold in the country. According to Procon-SP, the charger is an essential part of the phone experience.

The consumer protection agency said that Apple was in violation of the Brazilian Consumer Defense Code because they didn't provide one with the device. Apple added the environmental benefits of removing the charger and reducing the box footprint to the argument that many customers already have it in their homes.