Apple has received its fifth €5 million ($5.7 million) fine from the Dutch antitrust regulator over the ongoing dispute regarding non-Apple payment methods, although the battleground chosen by the Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) is not the mobile games landscape but rather dating app subscriptions.

As reported by Reuters, the ACM's fifth fine comes five months after ACM first ruled that Apple’s App Store payments were anti-competitive in October 2021.

The ACM has continued to impose €5 million fines against the tech giant since it missed the deadline to implement new changes by January 15 2022. The regulator has stated that Apple has not made any new proposal to adhere to its ruling.

Ongoing dispute

Apple has stated in a blog post that it has complied with the ACM ruling by allowing dating app creators to submit a new version of their with alternative payment methods enabled. However, in a move familiar to the mobile games industry, the firm stated that it plans to charge a 27 per cent fee on in-app purchases that it does not manage.

The ACM has spurned Apple’s suggestions and claimed that uploading a new app is an "unnecessary and unreasonable condition", and that this creates an "unnecessary barrier".

Last week, a counsel of attorneys demanded $27 million for its involvement in securing a $100 million settlement against Apple and its alleged monopoly it holds over the App Store.