Apple was sued for the reason of violating US antitrust law by overcharging them to use its app store by French app developers on Monday.
The proposed class action plaintiffs include Société du Figaro, which creates the Figaro news app; L'Équipe 24/24, which creates the L'Équipe sports news and streaming app; and Le Geste, an organization of French content suppliers.
Apple has exploited its monopolistic position over app distribution on iOS-based mobile devices, according to the case filed in federal court in Oakland, California, by imposing only one app store for such devices.
According to the plaintiffs, this has allowed the Cupertino, California-based corporation to demand "supercompetitive" 30 percent commissions for 14 years, as well as $99 (approximately Rs. 8,000) yearly fees to app developers, restricting innovation and customer choice.
The lawsuit said that "there is no reasonable business need or pro-competitive rationale for Apple's actions." "Instead, Apple's measures are intended to eliminate competition."
The case filed on Monday seeks an injunction to prevent additional anticompetitive behavior, as well as treble damages for breaking federal antitrust law and California state law.
The plaintiffs are represented by Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro in the United States and Fayrouze Masmi-Dazi in Paris.
The complaint filed on Monday is similar to a previous Hagens Berman action against Apple, which resulted in a $100 million (approximately Rs. 800 crore) settlement for smaller iOS developers who complained about Apple's high fees last August.
In June, the company negotiated a $90 million (approximately Rs. 700 crores) settlement with Alphabet's Google over the treatment of developers in its app store.
The case is Société du Figaro et al v Apple Inc, No. 22-04437 in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.
