Apple is facing a hefty fine from São Paulo’s consumer protection agency for selling iPhones without chargers in Brazil. The penalty was shared by Brazilian tech news outlet Tilt, which confirmed that the company had been asked to pay nearly $2 million by Procon-SP due to the omission, as well as misleading advertising and unfair terms. Apple stopped including chargers with the debut of its iPhone 12 model in October, citing environmental concerns.
“The agency announced on Friday (19) that it applied a fine in the amount of R $ 10,546,442.48 to Apple for selling iPhones without a charger,” Tilt reported. “In addition, Procon-SP accuses the company of misleading advertising, of selling devices with factory defects, of maintaining unfair terms in the contract with consumers and of not having repaired a product that was still under warranty.”
“Apple needs to understand that in Brazil there are solid laws and institutions for Consumer Protection,” said Fernando Capez, executive director of Procon-SP. It needs to respect these laws and these institutions.”
São Paulo consumer protection agency Procon-SP hinted that it’d be fining Apple back in December when it published a notice warning that the company had failed to properly demonstrate how selling iPhones without chargers would benefit the environment. Apple argued that the decision was going to help reduce carbon emissions and the mining/use of precious materials.