The absence of chargers is still bothersome in Brazil. Apple has just been ordered to pay a customer $1,000 for selling him an iPhone without a charger.
It’s been more than two years since Apple made the decision to remove the chargers from these boxes. Indeed, in order to achieve its goal of carbon neutrality in the coming years, the Cupertino company has decided to remove the charger blocks. The argument being that each user already had enough chargers available.
This argument does not hold on the side of Brazilian justice. Recently, a judge in a Brazilian court ruled that Apple had no right to do this, and that the Cupertino company had to compensate a user.
A $1000 fine
The verdict is that Apple must pay this customer over $1,000 for selling him an iPhone without a charger. Under Brazilian law, selling a charger separately is “tying,” an illegal practice under local law. In other words, Apple is therefore not allowed to sell the iPhone and the charger separately.
This is not the first time that the American firm has been condemned in Brazil. Indeed, in March 2021, Procon-SP, the Brazilian consumer protection agency, imposed a $1.9 million fine to Apple for not providing a charger with the iPhone 12. The Apple brand was also required to give an adapter to anyone who requested it.
While the question of the charger in the box seems closed, Apple having been joined on this point by the rest of the market, Brazilian laws might well change the situation in the coming months. It remains to be seen whether the apple brand will continue to pay damages (as in the Netherlands) or whether it will change its tune.
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