South Korea's Parliament passes Bill to curb Google, Apple commission dominance

[SEOUL] South Korea's Parliament on Tuesday approved a Bill that bans major app store operators such as Google and Apple from forcing software developers to use their payment systems, effectively stopping them from charging commissions on in-app purchases.

It is the first such curb by a major economy on the likes of Apple and Alphabet's Google, which face global criticism for requiring the use of proprietary payment systems that charge commissions of up to 30 per cent.

The final vote was 180 in favour out of 188 attending to pass the amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, dubbed the "Anti-Google law." A spokesperson for Google could not be reached. Apple did not have an immediate comment.

REUTERS