7-year-old child spent 1.33 lakh rupees on games in iPhone, father had to sell car

A doctor’s son bought several games from his iPhone. To pay this bill, the doctor was forced to sell the family car. The incident took place in North Wales, UK, when seven-year-old Ashaaz played an iPhone game Dragons: Rise of Burke for an hour. To keep up with his progress in the game, Ashaaz made several in-app purchases ranging from £1.99 to £99.99. The purchase ultimately totaled £1,289.70 (approximately Rs 1.33 lakh). Later his father Muhammad Mutaza came to know about this. The 41-year-old consultant endocrinologist was shocked to learn that the free version of the game allows players such a young age to have unlimited purchases.

In a conversation with the Daily Mail, he explained how the game allowed players to make any transaction up to £99.99. Assuming the game is for four years and above, he argued that the amount of purchasing power is too high for children in that young age group. Muhammad at first thought that he had been deceived. Only when he read his emails did he find that many of the transactions were too many. Muhammad complained to Apple, after which the company returned him £207 (about Rs 21,000).

He mentions that the purchase by his son inadvertently means that his credit card has been almost maxed out, but the company is tricking his child to make money. They argue that a free game specially designed for children should never allow unlimited transactions of such a high amount. The freedom to play the nature of the game led him to believe that it was not possible at all.

Although such transactions are password protected through iTunes, Muhammad said that his son may have seen and remembered his password once before. In a statement to the Daily Mail, Apple further states that there are other features in place to help prevent such accidental purchases.

So how Ashaz managed to overcome them or whether the checks were in place is not yet clear. However, a strong case can be made for how one seven-year-old was able to make countless purchases on children’s games, leading to a suspiciously high bill for anyone watching.