Authorities Start Seizing iPhone Boxes Without Chargers at Retail Locations in Brazil

After determining that Apple hurts customers by not including the power adaptor with the handset, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice already imposed an iPhone sales ban in September. Apple continues to disobey the mandate despite million-dollar penalties, which has now resulted in the Federal District consumer protection agency confiscating iPhones from retail locations.

Procon-DF has reportedly confiscated “hundreds of iPhones in various retail establishments in Brasilia,” the capital of Brazil, as originally reported by Tecnoblog. The regulator is attempting to get Apple to comply with a local regulation that mandates that iPhones be sold with the charger included in the package via an effort dubbed “Operation Discharge.”

The iPhones were reportedly confiscated at approved Apple resellers and carrier locations. Any iPhone model without a charger in the package has been forbidden by the authority. Apple replaced the iPhone 11 with a new, more compact package without the charger even though it discontinued included the item in free delivery with the iPhone 12. Following the seizure of the iPhones, Apple Brazil asked the government to permit sales of the smartphone in the nation up to the dispute’s resolution. The company told Tecnoblog that despite the operation, it still sells iPhones in Brazil.

Despite the company’s assurances that it would prevail in the lawsuit, a subsequent business decision contradicts those claims. The business has discontinued supplying the device with a charging cable included in the box with the most current iteration of Apple TV, which has an upgraded Siri Remote with USB-C instead of Lightning.

It’s interesting to note that the new Apple TV 4K in Brazil still comes with a USB-C cable in the package. Apple intended to prevent more penalties from the Brazilian regulator during the iPhone charger problems, even if the corporation doesn’t provide the reasoning for this choice.