What you need to know
- A Russian lawmaker has put forth a new bill that would regulate app store fees.
- If passed, it would limit the commission Apple and Google could charge to twenty percent.
- It would also require app sellers to contribute to a fund that provides IT training.
A Russian lawmaker has submitted a draft of legislation on Tuesday that would cap the percentage that app stores are allowed to charge developers.
Reported by Reuters, the bill would limit the commission that companies like Apple and Google could take when a developer sells an app on their platform to twenty percent. Currently, both companies charge 30% on apps and in-app purchases. Notably, Apple's fee for subscription services drops to 15% after the first year, so the change would only affect one-time purchases as well as the first year of service.
A Russian lawmaker submitted draft legislation on Tuesday that would cut and cap the commission on the sale of mobile applications by tech giants Apple and Google. The bill, submitted to Russia's lower house of parliament by lawmaker Fedot Tumusov, stipulates that commissions on the sale of applications be capped at 20%. Apple currently collects a 30% commission on sales in its App Store.
If passed, app sellers would also be required to pay a third of their fees towards a fund that trains IT specialists. The lawmaker says that, by lowering the fees, Russia would be creating a new growth opportunity for developers.
The bill, if adopted, would also oblige app sellers to pay a third of their commissions to a special training fund for IT specialists on a quarterly basis. "Lowering the commission and having the ability to bring products to users is a growth opportunity for IT developers," Tumusov wrote on social media.
Last month, a Russian watchdog ruled that Apple's App Store is anticompetitive and is demanding that the company meet the regulations the watchdog claims it has broken. Apple has said that it will be appealing the decision.
The new bill comes as Apple (as well as Google and other companies) face mounting pressure against the fees and control associated with their app stores. Most notably is the Epic Games lawsuit in which the developer is suing Apple and Google for what it claims are antitrust violations. In response to the company's repeated violations of the rules on the App Store, Apple recently terminated the Epic Games developer account.
