South Korea's Broadcast Media Communications Commission appears close to deciding to impose fines on Google and Apple over alleged forced in-app payment practices. A final conclusion is expected nearly 3 years after it gave advance notice of its sanction plan in 2023.

A government source said on Oct. 27 that the commission is expected to soon deliberate and vote on agenda items covering fines and corrective orders against Google and Apple for alleged violations of the Telecommunications Business Act.

Kim Jong-cheol (김종철), chairman of the commission, confirmed during a comprehensive parliamentary audit on Oct. 22 that the matter is "making considerable progress at the commission level and I think it has reached the decision stage," and said it would be handled soon.

The sanctions follow the so-called law banning forced in-app payments introduced in 2021. The bill, introduced through revisions to the Telecommunications Business Act, bans app market operators from unfairly using their trading position to force app developers to use specific payment methods.

The Korea Communications Commission, the predecessor of the current body, launched a fact-finding probe in August 2022 targeting Google and Apple, among others. In October 2023, it judged the two companies had violated the Telecommunications Business Act by effectively forcing specific payment methods and unfairly delaying app reviews, and gave advance notice of a plan to impose fines totaling 68.0 billion won, including 47.5 billion won for Google and 20.5 billion won for Apple.

At the time, the regulator judged that while the two companies allowed third-party payments, they imposed commissions that were not much different from their own payment systems and attached various usage conditions to force specific payment methods. But the sanction process was delayed for a long period after the commission failed to meet quorum requirements for a vote due to the absence of standing commissioners.

In March last year, a revised deliberation plan was prepared to adjust the fines to a total of 63.0 billion won, including 42.0 billion won for Google and 21.0 billion won for Apple, after recalculating related sales. It did not lead to a final vote.

The commission resumed the sanction process after normalising its organisation this year. In August, it directly heard opinions from Google and Apple headquarters officials and received submitted materials on additional disputed issues. A decision on whether to impose final sanctions, the size of the fines and the details of corrective orders is expected to be made through the commission's deliberation and vote in the near future.