The Brazilian antitrust regulator Cade announced that Apple must lift restrictions on payment methods for in-app purchases. This decision follows an investigation into a complaint by Latin American e-commerce company MercadoLibre.
Apple declined to comment, and MercadoLibre has yet to respond to inquiries outside regular business hours.
MercadoLibre’s complaint, initially filed in 2022 in Brazil and Mexico, alleged that Apple imposed limitations on distributing digital goods and services. It also accused Apple of requiring developers to use its payment system for in-app purchases and preventing them from redirecting buyers to external websites.
Cade’s ruling mandates that Apple must allow app developers to offer external payment options, such as hyperlinks to external websites. Additionally, developers must be permitted to use alternative in-app payment processing methods.
Apple has 20 days to comply with these measures. If it fails to do so, Cade will impose a daily fine of 250,000 reais (approximately $43,000).
