Why The Netherlands Just Filed A Class Action Lawsuit Against Apple
It looks like Apple has drawn the ire of a consumer rights group in the Netherlands because of its App Store policies. The non-profit Consumer Competition Claims Foundation is filing a class action lawsuit against Apple, alleging on its website that European consumers "have been overcharged 5 billion euros for their app and in-app purchases and should demand a refund." As with much of the negative attention Apple has been receiving lately, it seems that this lawsuit is centered on the fees Apple charges for purchases made through the App Store.
Apple charges a 30% cut on everything sold through the App Store, whether those are apps purchased upfront, in-app purchases that use the App Store's payment system, or even subscriptions that were started through the App Store. For instance, if someone signs up for Spotify via the iOS app, Apple takes a 30% cut of those monthly subscription fees (a cut that decreases to 15% after a user has been subscribed for a year). Up until recently, Apple forbade app developers from offering alternative payment methods within their apps, which is something that Epic Games ultimately took Apple to court over.
The description of this lawsuit on the Consumer Competition Claims Foundation's website is somewhat vague in that it doesn't really get into specifics. "By using anti-competitive practices, Apple has been able to charge excessively high prices and impose restrictive conditions," the website reads. "Apple excluded all competition and withheld choice for consumers on their App-store and in-app purchases."
Netherlands consumer group looking for a huge class action sum
In speaking to Bloomberg (via MacRumors), the foundation gets a little more specific. It says that it could net as much as 5.5 billion euros in damages for consumers who purchased apps or made in-app purchases using iPhones or iPads. Of course, that's assuming that the lawsuit is successful, as the Consumer Competition Claims Foundations seems to still be in the phase where it's recruiting people for the class-action lawsuit.
It sounds like the foundation is mostly focused on the commission Apple takes on each sale facilitated by the App Store. For most, that commission is 30%, which the foundation argues then causes developers to hike prices. While Apple has adopted some flexibility in the cut it takes – in 2020 it changed the commission to 15% for small-scale businesses and developers that make less than $1 million annually – developers selling apps and in-app purchases through the App Store are still subject to some kind of commission.
Apple's cut on App Store sales has drawn it plenty of criticism here on the other side of the Atlantic, as Epic and Apple are currently engaged in a lengthy legal battle over those fees and the inability for App Store developers to advertise other, external payment methods. While the initial lawsuit didn't go Epic's way in most regards, the company is currently going through the appeals process.