By Mauro Orru and Adria Calatayud
U.K. antitrust officials said Apple and Alphabet's Google should allow app developers in the country to steer customers toward alternative platforms for payment, a change the watchdog says would allow app makers to bypass some fees set by the tech giants.
The Competition and Markets Authority said Tuesday that it was launching a consultation on new requirements for Apple and Google to make the change that would let developers engage directly with customers about payments off their own platforms, a practice known as steering. The CMA said Apple currently banned steering in the U.K., while Google had some restrictions in place until now.
"We think it is important to give both app developers and users more choice about how they communicate and how they transact," Will Hayter, executive director for digital markets at the CMA, said in a statement. "This is not only because choice is inherently valuable but also because we see this as the best way to introduce some competitive pressure in a vital part of the mobile ecosystem that is otherwise sorely lacking such pressure."
The regulator said it would expect Apple and Google to introduce fees that app makers would pay to steer customers to other platforms for payment, and those fees would be lower than current app store charges.
An Apple spokesperson said the proposed requirements would undermine safety and security, opening the door to scams, bait-and-switch tactics, and the circumvention of parental controls.
"When users are directed away from Apple's trusted payment infrastructure, they lose the protections they rely on Apple to provide. We will continue to make our concerns clear in our ongoing dialogue with the CMA," the spokesperson said.
Apple's App Review Guidelines allow developers to communicate with users outside the app about purchasing methods other than in-app purchase. On payments, Apple said it only collects a commission when a developer sells apps for a fee or sells digital goods or services through their apps, and that it has consistently lowered commissions and created new exemptions since it launched its App Store.
A Google spokesperson said the company had already made the changes the CMA is proposing. The company said last week that developers could face lower service fees and use their own billing systems alongside Google Play's, or guide users to their websites for digital content purchases starting from June 30.
The CMA took note of the changes, saying it would assess their likely impact on users and businesses during the next phase of its work on mobile platforms. Officials are seeking feedback on the steering conduct requirements consultation until late July, before deciding whether to impose any new requirements later this year.
Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com and Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com