UK watchdog proposes mandatory steering fee principles for Apple and Google

The CMA’s intervention shifts the power balance by moving beyond the mere right to use alternative payments toward regulating the underlying economics. By tying steering fees to actual operational costs and 'netted' value — rather than arbitrary revenue shares — the UK is creating a blueprint for making third-party billing commercially viable. For streaming services, this could significantly lower customer acquisition costs and improve direct-to-consumer margins. The adoption of judicial findings from the Kent v Apple case also signals a new, more integrated enforcement era in the UK where private litigation directly informs public regulation. Watch for the CMA’s final decision following the July 28, 2026, consultation close.

The CMA's June 2026 proposal represents an escalation from the previous voluntary commitments secured from Apple and Google in February 2026. While those initial pledges, finalized in April 2026, focused on transparency and fairness in app store rankings, they famously omitted the 'biggest bugbear' for developers: the high commission rates. By moving to a formal Conduct Requirement (CR) under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, the CMA is using its specific 'Strategic Market Status' powers to target the core revenue models of both platforms, per Reuters and official CMA filings (June 2026).

This UK action follows a significant enforcement precedent set by the European Commission. In April 2025, EU regulators fined Apple €500 million for breaching anti-steering obligations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), citing multiple commercial and technical restrictions that hindered developer communication with users. That decision forced Apple to allow developers to inform customers of cheaper off-platform offers 'free of charge,' though Apple subsequently introduced alternative fees that remain the subject of ongoing scrutiny, per European Commission press releases (April 2025).

Domestically, the CMA's reasoning is heavily bolstered by the landmark Kent v Apple judgment from October 2025. In that case, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) found Apple liable for abuse of dominance and excessive pricing, awarding damages between £1.18 billion and £2.24 billion. Crucially, the CAT established that competitive commission rates for app distribution should be closer to 17.5% rather than 30%. The CMA’s use of these factual findings to build its own regulatory framework illustrates a growing synergy between UK private class actions and ex ante oversight, per ScidaProject and Lexology (November 2025).