There is that popular saying, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, but it seems that Apple reckons that they can make an exception over in Brazil where the Cupertino company has managed to land themselves in a spot of trouble with the Brazil Consumer Protection Secretariat department. For the most part, Apple charges its iTunes customers using currency based on where the user is located, or has set their location, so for example in the US we’d be charged using USD, and in UK we’d be charged using GBP.
However in Brazil, oddly enough Apple has been charging their customers in USD as opposed to using the Brazilian Real currency, and actually requires customers to pay with an international credit card as opposed to accepting a local credit card that uses Brazilian currency. The ministry has given Apple 10 days to respond to their inquiry especially since charging in a foreign currency is considered to be illegal in Brazil. Assuming Apple does not respond in time, they could be facing a fine of about $2.6 million.
This is not the first time that Apple has faced criticism over its pricing choices in foreign markets. It wasn’t too long ago that companies such as Apple and Adobe were questioned by the Australian government on why prices in their country was higher than others.