Could Apple Be Facing A Possible Lawsuit: Apple Being Accused of Not Adhering To The European Commission Rules For App Vendors Over In-App Cash

Could Apple Be Facing A Possible Lawsuit: Apple Being Accused of Not Adhering To The European Commission Rules For App Vendors Over In-App Cash

Mobile phones have become part of our every day to day live activities and this has seen us also buy them for our children. With all the conveniences mobile phones have brought in our lives they have also brought us inconveniences. We all know that kids love playing games and that mobile phones have provided them an avenue where they can enjoy games without buying the more expensive video game consoles. These games however, seem to come at a very expensive rate as companies that are responsible for the game apps are taking advantage and tricking their users into acquiring games which at the beginning are free to download but end up asking for a fee to access certain features or move up levels.

It has come as a shock to children and adults too who use mobile phones as they are subjected to additional charges for additional features for the free to download games.

The Consumer Protection Co-operation authorities (CPC) is said to have the option on taking legal action against companies that are deemed not to comply with Europe's guidance on free apps. It seems however that Apple are yet to follow up on the rules set by the Commission.

Apple has been criticized by the European Commission for not offering any strong and instantaneous plans that should see the stop of users being misled by free apps. Apple had initially proposed to address those concerns, nevertheless since then they have not taken any firm commitment on the implementation showing that this will be done in the future. 

The Commission is now forcing Apple and Google to make the true cost of games they provide clear to their users. Apple was singled out by the Commission since they feel that Apple are not taking things seriously as they have shown no commitment in making the necessary changes. This is what the Commission had to say in their statement "No concrete and immediate solutions have been made by Apple to date to address the concerns linked in particular to payment authorization,"

These are some of the rules the European Commission gave to app venders in December last year.

§  Games should not contain direct exhortation to children to buy items in a game or to persuade an adult to buy items for them;

§  Consumers should be adequately informed about the payment arrangements for purchases and should not be debited through default settings without consumers' explicit consent;

§  Games advertised as "free" should not mislead consumers about the true costs involved;

Traders should provide an email address so that consumers can contact them in case of queries or complaints.

 

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