Apple has filed a legal challenge against the Russian antitrust authority which fined the company $12 million for creating an unfair competition atmosphere. Last month, Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) accused the iPhone maker for abusing its dominant position in the apps marketplace.
The Russian antitrust authority had ruled that Apple had unfairly blocked Kaspersky’s app Safe Kids which was basically offered parental control features. However, Apple released a similar feature on its devices named ‘Screen Time’ around the same time. As a result, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has fined the iPhone maker 906 million rubles ($12 million).
However, Apple believes that it has been unfairly fined and has challenged the antitrust authority. The Moscow Arbitration Court accepted Apple’s claim, to challenge the fine, last Friday. The initial hearings to discuss the matter at hand have been scheduled for June 21.
Apple has challenged the fine
Apple will be required to provide evidence in regards to the challenge it has made, according to the database of the court. The defense i.e the Federal Antimonopoly Service will have to provide a clear written statement of defense.
The Russian antitrust authority first filed a case against Apple in 2019. Back then, the company had said that it had to remove several parental control apps as they were a threat to users privacy. The company had called such apps “highly invasive” in terms of security to the devices used by its users.
On April 27, the FAS said that the iPhone maker had worsened the situation for app developers by giving its own apps and services an unfair advantage over the competition. Apple is also going through a trial in the United States, as Epic Games has called the App Store on the iPhone to be unfair.
The antivirus maker Kaspersky has accused Apple of being anti-competitive.
