Payment for Apple services from cell phone accounts may be suspended in Russia - source

MOSCOW. March 30 (Interfax) - The Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media is discussing compelling Apple to reinstate popular Russian applications in App Store, including by suspending payment for Apple services from cell phone accounts, a source in the Russian government told Interfax.

The ministry and the four major cell phone operators met on March 28 to discuss possible suspension of payment for Apple services from cell phone accounts in order to make the technological giant reinstate Russian services in App Store, the source said.

"The ministry believes that temporary restrictions by operators may encourage the technological company to comply with Russian laws, since the missed profit would be too large otherwise," the source said.

Since 2022, Apple has removed dozens of popular Russian banking, map, aggregator and other applications from App Store, citing sanctions as the reason for its actions, he said.

In addition, Apple has failed to comply the Federal Antimonopoly Service's resolution on the default search engine choice screen on iOS devices in Russia and ignored the requirement to install the RuStore Russian app store under the Russian legislation, the source said. "In addition, Apple is restricting alternate payment methods and is not meeting Roskomnadzor's demand that VPN services, which account for over 80% of all purchases, be removed from the Russian App Store," he said.