The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) announced that it will be imposing corrective measures and penalty surcharges on tech giants Google and Apple.

The decision, announced on Friday (October 6), comes as a result of a fact-checking investigation into allegations of unfair practices, including the coercion of specific payment methods for app market operators.

The investigation, which was initiated on August 16, 2022, has revealed violations of the Telecommunications Business Act.

The KCC, under chairman Lee Dong-kwan, found that the violations primarily revolved around the tech giants’ practices of forcing specific payment methods and causing unfair delays in the assessment of applications, all while exploiting their dominant market positions.

Of particular concern is the enforcement of specific payment methods by Google and Apple. This practice has raised alarms as it threatens to undermine the fundamental goals of the amended act in September 2021, which were aimed at promoting fair competition within the app market.

Lee emphasised that the KCC’s primary objective is to ensure a thriving app market while safeguarding the choices of users. By enforcing the law rigorously and preventing dominant players from imposing specific payment methods, the KCC seeks to protect the broader mobile ecosystem from potential harm.

In response to these findings, the KCC has also issued a draft outlining corrective measures to address Apple’s discriminatory charging of fees to domestic app developers. The KCC intends to make a final decision on imposing penalty surcharges, which could amount to a total of US$50.5 million.

This decision will be made after considering the input of business operators, undergoing deliberation, and finalising the decision-making process.