Russian lawyers to file lawsuit against Apple for closure of payment service in Russia

Lawyers from Chernyshov, Lukoyanov and Partners (CLP) law firm have decided to file a case against Apple for closing its payment service Apple Pay on devices in Russia. The development has been confirmed by Chernyshov, Lukoyanov and Partners (CLP) law firm's senior partner Konstantin Lukoyanov, TASS reported. The decision of the attorneys comes as tech giant Apple in March announced its decision to terminate its payment service in Russia. 

Konstantin Lukoyanov told TASS that the law firm has decided to sue Apple as the rights of Russian consumers have been violated by the "unjustified" and "unilateral" shutdown of Apple Pay. According to the attorney, the move by the company needs to be considered as "intentional moral damage" to Russian users and owners of Apple devices. The attorney asserted that the recovery amount needs to be substantial for compensating the damage caused to the Russian consumers by the decision of Apple. As per the news report, the attorney further stated that anyone who thinks that their rights were violated by Apple's decision and it needs to be held "responsible" for its actions, can contact the law firm and join the lawsuit against the company. 

Apple halts product sales & limits Apple Pay in Russia 

In response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, American tech giant Apple in March halted all product sales in Russia and had limited Apple Pay and other services in Russia. According to a statement by the company, the company also decided to cease all shipments to Russia and restrict its payment service 'Apple Pay' for Russian citizens. The company said in the statement, "We have paused all product sales in Russia. Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited," ANI cited a Sputnik report. Furthermore, the company announced that they have disabled the download of RT News and Sputnik News from the App Store outside Russia. It is to mention here that Russia launched a military offensive in Ukraine on February 24. Ever since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, many companies have announced their decision of halting production or ending their supplies in Russia. Furthermore, US and its allies have announced sanctions against Russia to pressurise the Kremlin to put an end to the war in Ukraine. 

(Inputs from ANI)

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