Apple faces UK class-action lawsuit over iOS App Store practices

As we all know, currently Apple is under fire on several fronts for ‘anti-competitive' practices with its iOS App Store policies. Apple is already dealing with a lawsuit from Epic Games, an antitrust case from the EU and now, we can add a UK class-action lawsuit to the list as well. 

A class action lawsuit against Apple was filed in the UK this week. As reported by GI.biz, the lawsuit seeks compensation for customers who have been ‘over charged' for apps and services due to Apple's 30 percent revenue cut. The lawsuit takes the angle that a majority of developers are forced to charge more for content on iOS due to the cut that Apple takes.

Anyone who has owned an iPhone or iPad since October 2015, and has made at least one App Store purchase, may be entitled to compensation, according to Hausfeld, the legal firm behind the class-action suit. Estimates indicate that up to 19.6 million iOS users could have been affected, which means Apple could face total damages of up to £1.5 billion.

This lines up with the UK's competition and markets authority launching its own investigation into Apple's business practices, although no conclusions have been revealed on that front just yet.

KitGuru Says: Filing a class-action lawsuit is one thing, but there are still a lot of hurdles to go through, so this could be drawn out for quite some time. 

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