A Brazilian judge imposed a fine of 19.2 million dollars on the multinational Apple for selling its iPhone models without a charger, and ordered that all mobile phones offered by the company from now on in Brazil include the adapter electric.
The decision was made by the 18th civil judge of the city of Sao Paulo, Caramuru Afonso Francisco, in response to a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, according to the ruling published by the Regional Court of Justice of Sao Paulo.
According to the judge, in addition to paying the fine to compensate for the social damages caused by the condemned practice, the company will have to provide consumers who buy any iPhone model with USB-C type power adapters with the necessary voltage to guarantee good performance and recharge speed promised by the company.
Apple reported through its press office that it will file an appeal in a higher court against the decision of the judge of first instance and that its decision not to include the chargers together with the device seeks to meet its environmental commitments, aimed at reducing electronic waste and waste. harmful.
“It is evident that, under the “green initiative” justification, (the defendant) forces the consumer to purchase separately the electrical adapters that were previously offered together with the product,” justified the judge in his decision in the face of Apple’s allegations.
The magistrate added that the company acts in bad faith by using the defense of the environment as a justification for not including the chargers and being able to sell them separately.
“It is therefore a clear abusive practice and a violation of the Consumer Protection Code,” according to the ruling.
The fine is added to another of 12 million reais (2.3 million dollars) that the Brazilian Ministry of Justice imposed on Apple for the same reason last September.
In a decision of the Ministry’s consumer defense body against which the multinational filed an appeal, the Government prohibited Apple from continuing to sell the devices without the respective charger.
Apple has been investigated since December of last year in Brazil for the “sale of an incomplete product (…), discrimination against the consumer and transfer of responsibility to third parties” for offering its mobile phones without the power adapter.