Apple fined an extra 5 million euros for not complying with Dutch dating app order

The Dutch Consumers and Markets Authority (ACM) has fined Apple €5m for the fourth time for failing to comply with an order requiring it to let Dutch dating app providers use third-party payment systems in their apps.

The total of all penalty payments currently stands at 20 million euros out of a potential maximum amount of 50 million euros. 

After the ACM released a ruling in December 2021 that required Apple to allow dating apps to use payment systems other than Apple’s payment system, Apple said it would comply.The company introduced two optional entitlements for dating app providers in Netherlands and underlined that dating app developers using these entitlements must submit a separate app binary for iOS or iPadOS, which can only be distributed in the Netherlands App Store. 

The ACM said Apple’s these new terms are “unreasonable and create an additional barrier.”

“The new conditions stipulate that dating-app providers must develop a completely new app if they wish to use an alternative payment system. Apple has informed ACM about these new conditions. App providers cannot adjust their existing apps. ACM finds this to be an unreasonable condition that is at odds with the requirements that Apple had set out. ACM is of the opinion that, as such, Apple still does not comply with ACM’s requirements. Apple must therefore pay another 5 million euros,” the ACM said.