Apple allows Dutch dating apps to use 3rd-party payment options

San Francisco: In a bid to end its legal tussle with the Dutch regulators, Apple has announced to finally allow dating apps in the country to use third-party payment options on App Store.

Apple, which has been fined $55 million so far for failing to adhere to Dutch policies on dating apps, has published a new version of its App Store rules that allow local dating apps to take payments through third-party processors.

The company said it is eliminating the requirement that developers of dating apps in the Netherlands “who choose to use the above entitlements must create and use a separate binary”.

“This change means that developers may include either entitlement in their existing dating app, but still must limit its use to the app in the Netherlands storefront and on devices running iOS or iPadOS,” the company said late on Wednesday.

The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has so far fined Apple $55 million for failing to satisfy its order and if the tech giant further fails to comply with its order, the consumer watchdog may impose another periodic penalty payments with possibly higher penalties this time around.

The Dutch regulator has been levying its fines in $5.5 million increments on Apple, for failing to address its demands to allow dating apps to use alternate formats of payments.

Apple said it still disagrees with the ACM’s original order and “are appealing it”.

“In the meantime, the changes we’ve made today demonstrate Apple’s ongoing commitment to fulfill its legal obligations in the Netherlands,” said the tech giant.

Apple is providing updated and more-specific criteria to evaluate non-Apple payment service providers that developers of dating apps in the Netherlands may use.