Testenskoop has started a lawsuit against the American technology giant Apple. The consumer organization demands that consumers, who, according to her years, paid too much for their music streaming subscriptions, are reimbursed.
The group claim (‘class action’) was announced six months ago. “Now the summons has left,” says Tewelkoop spokeswoman Laura Clays on Tuesday.
In concrete terms, Testaatkoop visits the allowance (up to 30 percent) that Apple charges for subscriptions to services such as Spotify and YouTube Music when they are closed through its App store App Store. Only for the streaming platform of Apple itself, Apple Music, is there no surcharge.
In March last year, the European Commission imposed a fine of 1.8 billion euros because it abused its power in the market for music streaming services. Apple has appealed.
Testlekoop now demands compensation for consumers who have been paying too much for years. In Belgium, it is estimated that 55,000 people are, says the consumer organization. “In concrete terms, we want to recline an average of 3 euros for music streaming on non-apple platforms every month via the iOS ecosystem (the operating system of Apple, ed.) Since July 2013.”
In Italy, Spain and Portugal, similar group claims are being worked on. This is done under the umbrella organization of the European consumer organization Euronsumers, of which Tewelkoop is a part.