A coalition of Japanese app developers has condemned Apple and Google for introducing new commissions on external payments, claiming it violates a recent law. The Mobile Content Forum urged the Japan Fair Trade Commission to investigate the practices. Developers argue that these fees undermine the viability of alternative billing options.
The Mobile Content Forum, an industry group representing around 70 companies, issued a statement on Thursday condemning Apple and Google for their new commissions on payments processed outside their app stores. Apple's fees reach up to 15 percent, while Google's go as high as 20 percent, the group said.
The Mobile Software Competition Law, fully effective since December, requires tech giants like Apple and Google to permit app developers to guide users to external websites for lower-cost transactions on in-app features or content. In response, the companies imposed these fees and are compelling developers to monitor and report user activities on those sites to enforce collection, according to the forum. The group described this as 'unjustifiable' and disruptive to external options, arguing it fails to ease the financial load on developers meaningfully.
Critics within the group highlighted that such tracking prioritizes profits over user privacy. Hopes were high that the law would drive down app prices, but concerns are mounting that its impact may be curtailed by these countermeasures.
The Japan Fair Trade Commission must probe potential breaches. 'We want to listen to various opinions from related parties and then discuss what actions we should take,' an official from the commission remarked.
