Ministry of Justice notifies Apple for selling iPhone without charger
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) notified Apple on Wednesday (29) for the absence of the charger in iPhone sales in Brazil. The smartphone manufacturer has decided not to include the plug adapter in the case of the handsets from the iPhone 11. Senacon (National Consumer Secretariat) accuses the company of abusive practice and married sale.
In the 29th edition of the Official Gazette (DOU), the Ministry of Justice ordered the initiation of administrative proceedings against Apple. The company must be notified and has up to 20 days to respond to the MJSP. The information is from TechTudo.
Apple has begun deleting chargers from selling devices from 2020. The company announced that the iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone SE, Apple Watch SE and Apple Watch Series would no longer come with the plug adapter, only with the lightning cable for USB-C. The brand’s two most recent generations of handsets, the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13, also do not include the battery source.
For Senacon, Apple practices conditional sales by separately offering the iPhone and charger. The pro-consumer agency explains that this occurs when the purchase of one product leads the customer to buy another, made available by the same company, for the sake of taking advantage of the previous item. The body aligned with the Ministry of Justice said it can fine Apple $ 11 million.
The Consumer Protection Code (CDC) prohibits conditional selling. According to the law, the company that commits this offense is “infringing the economic order, and becomes liable to a fine”.
Ministry of Justice notified Apple in October
It’s not the first time the Ministry of Justice has notifies Apple. In October, the folder sent a letter to the company in addition to Samsung. Manufacturers should justify the lack of the charger in the sale of their high-end products — iPhone 13 and Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, respectively. 15 days were given for the response.
But this time, in addition to the notification, the substitute director of Senacon, Frederico Moesh, asks the state, municipal and Brazilian capital Procons to take the necessary measures against Apple.
Moesh said the iPhone maker was interested in cooperating with MJSP in search of an agreement with Senacon. But the negotiations did not move forward, and the agencies decided to sanction Apple again.
As for Samsung, previously notified, Senacon filed an investigation into the South Korean company because it considered that the manufacturer “proved collaborative and adopted effective measures to provide the chargers to consumers who so desired.” If the agency understands that Samsung has again violated the CDC, it can notify the company again.
Tecnoblog contacted Apple for comment on the notification, but the company did not respond. The space remains open to the company’s manifestation.
