Apple has reportedly been fined $19 million by a Brazilian court for not having chargers included with new iPhones sold in the country.
According to Reuters, all iPhones sold in Brazil must have a charger included in the box, the court ruled.
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“It is evident that, under the justification of a ‘green initiative,’ the defendant imposes on the consumer a required purchase of charger adaptors that were previously supplied along with the product,” the court’s decision read, according to the report.
Now this isn’t the first time something like this has happened in Brazil. Back in April of this year, Apple was ordered to pay a customer 1k for not including a charger with his iPhone after Judge Vandelei Caires Pinheiro ruled in favor of his lawsuit. Pinheiro claims Apple violated Brazil’s Article 39 of the Consumer Code and deemed it a “tie sale” which is considered an abusive practice by not including a charger with the iPhone.
“According to article 39 of the Consumer Code (CDC), “tie sale” is an abusive and prohibited practice in Brazil, so it is not allowed to sell cell phones and chargers separately. Therefore, Apple is being sentenced to selling an iPhone model and charger separately to a consumer in the city of Goiânia. According to the result issued by Judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro, of the 6th Civil Court of Goiânia, Apple must compensate the consumer R$ 5 thousand for carrying out the “tie sale” of the company’s devices,” the judge said in a statement.
Android Authority reports a tie sale is defined as a practice of forcing a consumer to purchase two products in order to make them work. Apple argued in court that most people who owned previous iPhone models already have chargers.
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Back in 2020, the company announced in a statement that they would stop including charges with their cellphones and claimed it was more environmentally friendly.
“Leaving out those adapters was a bold change for Apple, and a necessary one for our planet. Since removing them from iPhone and Apple Watch packaging last year, we’ve avoided mining a significant amount of materials from the earth, and we’ve eliminated the emissions that come from processing and transporting them.”