The government of Brazil said on Tuesday that Apple has been banned from selling iPhones in Brazil without a charger and fined more than $2 million over the matter. The government had accused the US tech giant of engaging in "discriminatory activities."
The immediate suspension of the sale of all iPhone-branded handsets, regardless of model or age, without a battery charger was mandated by Brazilian authorities in an official notification.
The California corporation was required to pay a fine of 12.28 million reais (almost $2.4 million) by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security.
The measure from the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense effectively prohibits the sale of all iPhone 12 and 13 models.
Apple has been under investigation in Brazil since December for “the sale of an incomplete product,” “discrimination against the consumer” and “the transfer of responsibility to third parties” by offering iPhone 12s and newer versions without chargers for power outlets, according to an official statement.
The company has faced fines from Brazilian state agencies before, but “did not take any measures to minimize the harm and until now continued to sell the cellular devices without chargers,” the statement said.
According to Brazilian authorities, Apple alleges that the decision to exclude chargers from iPhone sales comes from an “environmental commitment.”
But the ministry determined “there is no effective demonstration of environmental protection on Brazilian soil as a consequence” of Apple’s policy, and accused the company of “deliberate discriminatory practices against consumers.”
“There is no justification for an operation which, in aiming to reduce carbon emissions, leads to the introduction into the consumer market of a product whose use depends on the acquisition of another (product) which is also marketed by the company,” the official notice added.