US tech giant Apple faces an additional EU antitrust charge in the coming weeks in an investigation triggered by a complaint from Spotify, according to a media report on Monday.
The European Commission last year accused the iPhone maker of distorting competition in the music streaming market, forcing developers to use its own in-app payment system and stopping them from advertising other purchasing options.
Extra charges set out in a so-called supplementary statement of objections are usually issued to companies when the EU competition enforcer has gathered new evidence or has modified some elements to boost its case.
The Commission declined to comment on the report from the Reuters news agency. Apple had no immediate comment.
Under new EU tech rules called the Digital Markets Act (DMA) agreed last month, such practices are illegal. However Apple and other US tech giants targeted by the rules will have a couple of years before the crackdown starts.
Companies found breaching EU antitrust rules face fines of as much as 10% of their global turnover and orders to ditch anti-competitive practices.
In addition to the music streaming investigation, Apple’s practices in e-books and its Apple Pay are also in the EU antitrust crosshairs.
Sweden’s Spotify, the largest music subscription service in the world, is one of Europe’s big global success stories in consumer technology.
