A Russian law firm is suing Apple, saying the tech giant violated the rights of consumers when it suspended its payment service in the country, Reuters reported Friday (April 29).
According to the report, the firm of Chernyshov, Lukoyanov & Partners is seeking 90 million roubles ($1.28 million) in damages from Apple, which last month blocked use of Apple Pay in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Read more: Apple Suspends Sales in Russia
Like many Western companies, Apple announced March 1 it would pause product sales in Russia; it also said it would block app store access to state media operations Russia Today and Sputnik from outside of the country.
The suit, apparently filed with a court in Moscow, seeks compensation for the “moral damage” Apple caused to Russian citizens and asks the company to resume Apple Pay’s operations in Russia. The amount of damages could rise as more claimants join the suit, the firm said.
Senior Partner Konstantin Lukoyanov said Apple’s main U.S. company had decided to suspend sales of Apple products and restrict services in Russia, according to the news outlet.
“Therefore, our lawsuit’s claims are directed firstly at the parent company and secondly at its subsidiary units,” he said in a statement.
The firm said Apple’s decision to halt Apple Pay services in Russia had made the company’s devices sold in the country less functional, thus lowering their value. The law firm called these actions unfair and discriminatory under Russian law.
Reuters reported that Chernyshov, Lukoyanov & Partners is also pursuing similar legal action against Netflix, which suspended its streaming services in Russia in March.
Learn more: Netflix Suspends Russia Projects, Acquisitions
As PYMNTS reported last month, Netflix stopped all future products and acquisitions in Russia following the invasion. The streaming company had four Russian-language series in production and post-production.
Netflix has also said that it would not be adding Russian state-run channels to its service in Russia, despite a regulation requiring the company to distribute those channels.
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