India, April 24 -- Apple has been fined €500 million (around $570 million) by the European Commission for violating the Digital Markets Act (DMA), marking the first major penalty under the new regulation. The fine centres on iPhone maker's App Store policies, which the Commission says prevented app developers from freely steering users toward alternative purchasing options outside the App Store.

The DMA requires that developers be allowed to inform users about and direct them to external purchasing methods-without any charge or restriction. However, the Commission has found that Apple's current policies, including fees imposed on external payments, effectively discourage such alternatives. Apple charges developers over 17% commissi...