Brazilian Court Fines Apple $20m for Selling iPhones Without Chargers

A Brazilian court in Sao Paulo on Thursday fined the American multinational technology company, Apple Inc a sum of $20 million for selling iPhones without battery chargers in the South American country.

The association of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers filed the lawsuit arguing that Apple committed abusive practices by selling its flagship product without a charger in 2020.

According to AFP, the decision, which can be appealed, came after Brazil’s justice ministry slapped a separate fine of nearly $2.5 million on Apple in September over the same issue and prevented it from selling its iPhone 12 and 13 models without chargers.

Judge Caramuru Afonso Francisco fined Apple 100 million reais approximately $20 million as damages but the company said it stopped including outlet chargers with new iPhones in October 2020, as it wanted to help reduce electronics waste.

But the move effectively “requires consumers to purchase a second product in order for the first to work,” Francisco wrote in his ruling.

Francisco gave the order to supply chargers to all consumers in Brazil who bought iPhone models 12 or 13 in the past two years, and begin including them with all new purchases.

Last week, the European Parliament passed a law requiring all smartphones, tablets and cameras to use USB-C ports as the single charger standard from late 2024, which will force Apple to change its phone designs.