Mexico’s IFT & COFECE Begin Apple App Store Probe

Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) and the Federal Economic Competition Commission (Cofece) notified the initiation of investigations against Apple for possible anti-competitive practices in its application store.

Last month Latin American e-commerce and fintech firm MercadoLibre filed a complaint with antitrust regulators in its largest markets of Brazil and Mexico against Apple, claiming that the US tech firm has broken anticompetitive practices.

Related: Mercado Libre Files Antitrust Suit Against Apple In Mexico & Brazil

MercadoLibre alleges that Apple is violating anti-competitive practices by prohibiting third-parties from distributing digital goods on iOS apps, Head of Antitrust Paolo Benedetti said in an interview. In addition to hurting developers, that policy also leads to higher prices due to the large commissions that Apple charges, he said.

The Buenos Aires-based company has submitted a complaint that claims that Apple limits the emergence of distributors of digital goods and services and restricts the distribution of content within its platforms. It adds that the company forces developers to use Apple’s payment processor, which leads to an “undue increase in costs” and limits companies’ distribution channels.