South Korea's Broadcasting, Media and Communications Commission (BMCC) has moved toward imposing tens of billions of won in fines on Google and Apple for forcing in-app payment systems.

The BMCC is expected to soon determine that such coercive practices by Google and Apple violate the Telecommunications Business Act, and to vote on fines and corrective orders.

Earlier, BMCC Chairperson Kim Jong-cheol stated during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee regarding the penalties against both companies, "I expect a vote before October ends."

Consequently, speculation is growing that the matter will be reviewed and decided sometime this week, the final week of October.

Previously, the former Korea Communications Commission (KCC) found that—based on the revised Telecommunications Business Act enacted in 2021 that bans app store operators from forcing specific in-app payment methods—both tech giants effectively mandated specific payment options by charging fees for third-party payment systems that were barely different from their proprietary systems and by imposing various conditions of use.

The KCC had been conducting a fact-finding investigation into Google and Apple since August 2022, and in October 2023, it announced planned fines in the 68 billion won range, including 47.5 billion won for Google and 20.5 billion won for Apple.

However, the penalties were repeatedly delayed as the regulator failed to meet a voting quorum amid operational disruptions at the commission at the time.

Then, in March of last year, the commission recalculated the relevant revenue and lowered the proposed fines to a total of 63 billion won—42 billion won for Google and 21 billion won for Apple—yet a final vote was still not carried out.

The BMCC, newly established under the revised law, has been finalizing the disciplinary procedures, including hearing opinions from Google and Apple this past August and receiving submissions on additional contested matters.

The final amount of the fines will be finalized during the BMCC's upcoming vote.