Apple is facing a group action claim in the UK over excessive and unlawful App Store charges. The representative opt-put collective action has been brought by Dr Rachael Kent, digital economy expert and lecturer at King's College, University of London.
Kent has filed a claim, represented by legal firm Hausfeld, with the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on behalf of around 19.6 million eligible UK iPhone and iPad users. It accuses Apple of abusing its dominant market position by imposing restrictive terms on app developers, stopping other distributors from offering app purchasers better value for money, and forcing users to pay for apps using its own App Store Payment System, which typically includes a 30 percent commission payment to Apple.
The claim argues that this behaviour is unlawful and monopolistic, violating section 18 of the UK Competition Act 1998 and Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU. Apple faces damages of up to GBP 1.5 billion as a result of the claim. Uswitch said the legal action, if successful, could lead to billions of pounds being repaid to iPhone users in the UK who have purchased apps since 2015. However, it warned that Apple users are unlikely to see an changes in the short term and that the legal action could take a long term to resolve.
