SAO PAULO, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazilian antitrust

regulator Cade said on Monday that Apple ( AAPL ) must lift restrictions

on payment methods for in-app purchases, among other things, as

the watchdog moved to proceed with an investigation into a

complaint filed by Latin America e-commerce giant MercadoLibre ( MELI ).

Apple ( AAPL ) in Brazil declined to comment. MercadoLibre ( MELI )

did not immediately respond to a request for comment

outside normal business hours.

MercadoLibre's ( MELI ) complaint, filed in 2022 in Brazil and

Mexico, accused Apple ( AAPL ) of imposing a series of restrictions on

the distribution of digital goods and in-app purchases,

including banning apps from distributing third-party digital

goods and services such as movies, music, video games, books and

written content.

In the complaint, MercadoLibre ( MELI ) criticized the California

tech giant for requiring developers that offer digital goods or

services within apps to use Apple's ( AAPL ) own payment system and

stopping them from redirecting buyers to their websites.

Cade ruled that Apple ( AAPL ) must allow app developers to add tools

so customers can buy their services or products outside the app,

such as through the use of hyperlinks to external websites.

Another preventive measure is that Apple ( AAPL ) must allow app

developers to offer other in-app payment processing options

apart from the one owned by Apple ( AAPL ), the regulator added.

Apple ( AAPL ) will have 20 days to comply with the measures, Cade

said, imposing a 250,000 real (about $43,000) fine per day if

Apple ( AAPL ) fails to comply with the demands.

($1 = 5.7983 reais)