According to a court in the Brazilian city of Goiania, Apple broke consumer protection laws and must compensate a customer to whom it sold an iPhone without a charger.
The Brazilian government has repeatedly fined Apple for not including a charger with the iPhone, and now a private customer in the city of Goiania has won a case against Apple.
The sentence of Judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro condemns Apple for carrying out an illegal “tied sale”. According to the country’s Consumer Code (CDC), devices such as a smartphone must include a charger, and may be sold separately, but separate sale should not be required for the device to fully function.
“This is the sale linked by concealment, an abusive and illegal commercial practice, which undermines the provisions of the Consumer Protection Code”ruled the judge.
“The CDC aims to protect the weakest part of the contractual relationship, insuring it against abusive practices and clauses in the supply of products and services.”
During the case, Apple argued that users are not required to buy its charger. Although the iPhone uses a Lightning connector, the cable provided is USB-C to Lightning, so any USB-C charger could be used. A
pple further argued that dropping a charger was due to environmental concerns.
Judge Pinheiro, however, held that It is not possible to use the charging cable provided by the iPhone with other chargers, so customers are required to purchase the product from Apple. We would like to understand why the judge says that.
Apple has been sentenced to compensate the user with 5,000 Brazilian reais, that is, about 1,000 euros. It’s not clear which iPhone model the buyer had, but a USB-C charger costs 343 Brazilian reais.
