Apple slapped with UK class action over app payments

Apple slapped with UK class action over app payments

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Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been slapped with a £1.5bn class action lawsuit amid claims its app store overcharged customers. Filed with London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal claims allege that Apple is forcing customers to use its own payments system, which charges a commission of around 30%, and it is deliberately shutting out competition. Apple generates “unlawfully excessive levels of profit” according to the claims. The US tech giant meanwhile described it as a “meritless” claim and said the commission charged is “is very much in the mainstream of those charged by all other digital marketplaces”. This latest legal challenge in Europe comes after April’s complaint by audio streamer Spotify and a review by UK regulators. Payment systems are also at the centre of the group’s dispute with Fortnite maker Epic Games which saw the intensely popular game removed from Apple’s app store. A US court case in the Epic dispute began last week. Apple was among the stocks under pressure on Wall Street at the start of this week amidst a broader market sell-off. It closed Monday down 2.58% and in Tuesday’s pre-market was falling another 1.69% down to US$124.70.

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