Russia's antitrust regulator has opened a case against Apple over its failure to allow the preinstallation of the Max messenger and the RuStore app marketplace on iPhones and iPads.
Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has launched an antitrust case against Apple, accusing the company of failing to comply with legal requirements to enable the preinstallation of the Russian app store RuStore and the national messaging app Max on iPhones and iPads.
According to the regulator, Apple failed to comply with an earlier FAS warning requiring the company to allow the preinstallation of the two apps on iOS devices. The agency said the case was opened under Russia's competition law and follows previous enforcement actions against Apple that were upheld by Russian courts.
In early July, the FAS ordered Apple to eliminate what it described as discriminatory conditions for Russian search engines by July 15 and comply with domestic software preinstallation rules. The regulator argued that iPhones and iPads still use a foreign search engine as the default option, requiring users to switch manually. The warning also cited Apple's failure to support the preinstallation of Max and RuStore.
Apple said that, starting with a software update released on July 27, users can now choose a Russian search engine as the default. However, the company did not address the regulator's demands regarding Max and RuStore.
In June, Apple removed Max from its App Store, along with several other apps developed by Russian internet company VK. Following the removals, Russia's Ministry of Digital Development asked the FAS to review whether Apple was complying with Russian antitrust rules requiring technically complex consumer devices sold in the country to support a Russian search engine—or one from another Eurasian Economic Union member state—as the default option.
The FAS said Apple could face a fine under Russia's administrative code if it is found to have violated competition law. The maximum penalty could reach up to 4 billion rubles (about $50 million).
Since mid-July, both Max and VK have been subject to EU sanctions, and their apps have also been removed from Google Play.
Source: Interfax
