The saga involving Apple’s decision to stop offering the charger in the kit of its devices continues. In an opinion released last Friday (26), Judge Dalia Zaro Queiroz, from the Special Consumer Court in Salvador (BA), ordered Apple and Lojas Americanas to provide the applicant with the charger and headset in the smartphone kit.
For the magistrate, “it is unreasonable for a cell device to be sold without the respective charger, as it is necessary to replace the charge for it to be functional”, arguing that the accessory is an essential item for the operation of the device and, therefore, must be given by the manufacturer.
According to the indictment, the act of selling the charger and headphones separately constitutes tying, a practice limited to “conditioning the supply of a product or service to the supply of another product or service, as well as, without just cause, to limits quantitative” according to Art. 39, item I, of the Consumer Protection Code (CDC).
As in other lawsuits, Apple claimed that the removal of the charger aims to contribute positively to the environment, reducing the impact caused by the product. However, the appeal was not enough and the judge determined in addition to the delivery of the charger and headphones a fine in the amount of R$ 5 thousand for the companies.
This is not the first time that the multinational has been sued by the court for not providing the charger on iPhones sold in Europe, and the company was recently fined R$ 12 million by Procon-RJ for not delivering the accessory in the box, also being notified. for iPhone 14, Apple’s next generation cellphone.
A Bill 5451/2020, authored by federal deputy Marcelo Ramos (PL-AM), is currently pending in the Chamber of Deputies, which makes it mandatory to supply a battery, headset, charger and any tools essential for the operation of a device. .
