South Korea has passed a bill to ban Google and Apple from forcing app developers to use the platforms' payment systems, Yonhap news agency reports. The legislation and judiciary committee of the National Assembly has approved the revision of the Telecommunications Business Act, which seeks to bar app market operators from abusing their dominant positions by requiring developers to use certain payment systems. If the bill is approved in a plenary session, South Korea will be the first country to introduce such curbs on Google and Apple's in-app billing policies.
The so-called Anti-Google Law was submitted to parliament in August 2020, one month after Google said it would have all apps use its own billing system and charge 30 percent commission on all in-app purchases. Earlier this year, Google decided to reduce its commission fees to 15 percent for the first USD 1 million of revenue earned by developers.
According to Korea Mobile Internet Business Association, sales from Google Play Store in South Korea reached KRW 5 trillion (approximately USD 4.3 billion) in 2020, accounting for two-thirds of the country's total, while sale from Apple's App Store stood at KRW 1.6 trillion.
Apple cut the 30 percent rate by half for app developers that earn up to USD 1 million annually at the start of this year. The bill "will put users who purchase digital goods from other sources at risk of fraud, undermine their privacy protections and make it difficult to manage their purchases", Apple said in a statement. Apple also believes that the bill may undermine consumer trust in App Store purchases, which could lead to fewer opportunities for the over 482,000 registered developers in Korea who have earned more than KRW 8.5 trillion to date.
