Technology giant ‘Apple’ has
been fined 10 million Euros ($12 million) by Italy’s antitrust authority on
Monday on a charge of advertising misleading claims and following aggressive
commercial practice about the water resistant properties of various iPhone
models.

Justifying the monetary
charges imposed, Italy’s competition body said, “The US based company did not
make it clear that this feature exists under certain specific conditions,
notably in laboratory tests with static and pure water and not under normal
conditions of use.”

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The models that came under
the umbrella of falsified claims includes iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR,
iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

The authority also thwacked Apple’s
disclaimer as a deliberate attempt to mislead consumers by saying ‘it was
deemed to mislead consumers’.

The disclaimer under question
said that the warranty for the smart phones did not cover damage caused by
liquids.

In addition, it also claimed
that Apple’s refusal to impart ‘warranty service’ when consumers complained about
iPhone models being damaged by liquids amounted to ‘aggressive commercial
practice’.

“For the given reasons, we
have decided to impose penalties totaling 10 million Euros on Apple
Distribution International and on Apple Italia,” said a statement by Italy’s
authority.