The Brazilian competition authority, Cade, has recently mandated that Apple must loosen its restrictions on payment methods used for in-app purchases among other directives. This decision was born out of an ongoing examination of a grievance lodged by the e-commerce titan of Latin America, MercadoLibre.

While Apple’s Brazilian entity chose to remain silent on this matter, MercadoLibre didn’t respond to requests for comments outside of their regular operational hours.

MercadoLibre’s grievance, submitted in 2022 in Mexico and Brazil, alleges that Apple placed a string of limitations on the circulation of digital commodities and in-app acquisitions. This includes prohibiting apps from disseminating third-party digital goods and services such as films, music, video games, literature, and other written content.

The e-commerce giant expressed its disapproval of the tech behemoth from California for enforcing rules that mandate developers who offer digital commodities or services within apps utilize Apple’s proprietary payment system. This also prevents them from directing customers to their websites.

Cade’s decision requires Apple to permit app developers to incorporate features that allow consumers to purchase their services or products outside the app, such as via links to external websites.

A further precautionary step is that Apple must permit app developers to provide alternate in-app payment processing options besides the one controlled by Apple, as per the regulator’s directive.

Apple has been granted a 20-day window to adhere to these measures, Cade announced. Should Apple fail to meet these demands, they face a fine of 250,000 real (approximately $43,000) per day.

Please note, the exchange rate at the time of this report is $1 equals 5.7983 reais.