South Korea Says Apple's Plan to Allow Third Party Payment Systems 'Still Lacks Concrete Detail'

South Korea's telecommunications regulator wants Apple and Google to provide better compliance plans before finalizing rules for a law that prevents companies from forcing use of their own payments systems, reports Reuters.

The country passed an amendment to its Telecommunications Business Act that prevents large app-market operators from requiring use of their in-app purchasing systems. It also bans unreasonably delayed approval of apps or deletion from the marketplace.

The rules for the enforcement ordinance are to be drawn up by March 15. Although, they're not finalized, a Korea Communications Commission (KCC) official told Reuters that Apple's compliance plan 'still lacks concrete detail'.


The KCC was in contact with Apple representatives for a more detailed compliance plan that goes beyond the general intention of allowing alternative payment systems, the official said.

Notably, the commission is aware of concern over Google's plan which only reduces its service charge by 4% when users opt for an alternative billing system. The regulator is also waiting for additional information from Google.

"As a result of any policy, if app developers find it realistically difficult to use an alternative payment system and resort to using the dominant app store operator's payment system, it would not fit the law's purpose," the official said, adding that this stance would likely be reflected in the final ordinance.

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