Google fined W42.9b, Apple W20.81b over in-app payment practices

Google and Apple, which have collected commissions of up to 30 percent by forcing app developers to use specific payment methods on their app stores, have been hit with heavy fines.

The Korea Communications Commission voted Wednesday at its 46th plenary session of 2026 to impose fines of 42.9 billion won ($32.7 million) on Google and 20.81 billion won on Apple, finding that both companies had violated prohibited-conduct provisions of the Telecommunications Business Act.

Alongside the fines, the commission issued corrective orders requiring the companies to improve their business procedures.

The commission had been conducting inspections and fact-finding investigations into prohibited practices in the app market since 2022, covering three areas: forcing developers to use specific payment methods, unfairly delaying app reviews, and harming user interests — the last of which applies to Apple only.

According to the commission, Google and Apple allowed only their own in-app payment systems — proprietary checkout services built into their platforms — and third-party payment methods developed by app developers, while blocking all other payment options, including external payment links.

Even when the two companies permitted third-party payment methods, they charged app developers a 26 percent commission for adopting them and provided a service with reduced functionality.

The commission found that by imposing various unreasonable conditions, the two companies in effect compelled developers to use only their own in-app payment systems.

Unfair delays in app reviews were also cited.

When app reviews were delayed, Google and Apple failed to notify developers of specific reasons and did not clearly respond to individual inquiries about the cause of delays or expected timelines.

Apple was also found to have applied discriminatory commission rates.

From the implementation of the revised Value-Added Tax Act in July 2015 through January 2023, Apple applied a 30 percent commission to foreign app developers based on the supply price — the final consumer price excluding VAT — while charging domestic developers a 30 percent commission based on the full final consumer price.

Korea Communications Commission Chairman Kim Jong-cheol said a fair and sustainable app market ecosystem can only be achieved through a cooperative relationship between app market operators and developers, and that the contribution of app developers to innovation must be recognized. "I hope this sanctions measure can serve as a turning point for substantive structural change in the market — change that app developers and end users can actually feel," Kim said.