UK competition regulator consults on new app payment rules for Apple and Google
The Facts
- The Competition and Markets Authority has launched a consultation on proposed new conduct requirements for Apple and Google under the UK's digital markets regime.
- The proposed rules would allow app developers in the UK to steer users to payment options outside Apple and Google's app stores.
- According to the CMA, Apple currently bans steering in the UK while Google restricts it.
- The CMA says any fees Apple and Google charge for allowing steering should be fair and reasonable and lower than current app store commissions.
- The regulator says the proposed changes are meant to improve competition and could lower costs for developers, with savings potentially passed to consumers or reinvested in innovation.
- The consultation also includes further work on Apple's NFC access on iOS, with the CMA considering whether to require broader access for rival payment services.
- The proposals are not final; the CMA is gathering responses before deciding later this year whether to impose new requirements.
Context
What is 'steering' in this case?
Here, steering means letting app developers direct or communicate with users about paying outside Apple and Google's app stores, such as on a website or another off-platform option gov.uk,Reuters.
Why does the CMA say this matters to consumers and developers?
The CMA says current restrictions can force developers to use platform payment systems and pay platform-set fees. It argues that allowing more payment choice could reduce developers' costs and lead to lower prices for consumers or more investment in products and innovation gov.uk,Independent,Euronews English.
What happens next?
The CMA is consulting on the proposals and collecting evidence, including on Apple's NFC access on iOS. It says responses will inform whether it imposes formal requirements later this year Investing.com,Morningstar,gov.uk.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Developers should not be forced to accept payment terms set solely by app-store gatekeepers, especially if steering fees remain high enough to blunt real competition.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether the story is about curbing concentrated platform power that shifts costs onto smaller businesses and consumers, or about enforcing clear market rules against private platform control.
How left and right read it
What stands out here is a regulator trying to curb gatekeeper power where two companies control how developers reach users and get paid. Letting developers steer people to other payment options, and insisting any related fees be lower and fair, matters because concentrated platform power can extract costs from smaller businesses and leave consumers paying the difference instead of seeing that money go into lower prices or new products.
What matters here is whether the UK’s digital markets regime can set clear, bounded rules instead of letting platform owners dictate terms by private fiat. A consultation on allowing outside payment options, scrutinizing steering bans and restrictions, and insisting any related fees be fairer and lower is a test of rule-based restraint that preserves room for developers to act on their own judgment.
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Wire services (3)
Independent coverage (39)
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