Microsoft faces new EU antitrust allegations for unfairly bundling Teams with Office

The European Union has brought major antitrust allegations against Microsoft, saying the tech giant illegally bundled its chat and video app, Teams, with its Office suite, gaining an unfair market advantage over competitors like Slack, Reuters reported.

According to the news agency, this decision by the EU competition watchdog came two decades after Microsoft was fined heavily by the EU. The recent actions were sparked by a 2020 complaint filed by Slack, a workspace messaging app owned by Salesforce.

The European Commission, which serves as the EU’s competition authority, said Microsoft gave Teams a distribution advantage while imposing restrictions that prevented competitors from interacting with Microsoft’s services, thereby further disadvantaging the competitors.

EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager stressed the importance of maintaining competition in the market for remote communication and collaboration tools, noting that such competition drives innovation.

Microsoft, which previously paid $2.4 billion in EU antitrust fines for similar product bundling practices and other violations, now faces a potential fine amounting to 10% of its revenue figure. annual global affairs if he is convicted of these latest charges.

The Commission said Microsoft’s recent measures were insufficient to allay its concerns and that further changes were needed to restore competitive balance.

Insiders revealed that the European authority is urging Microsoft to sell Office without Teams at a lower price, while competitors seek clearer interoperability terms and more incentives for users to switch to alternative services.

Microsoft President Brad Smith reiterated the company’s commitment to resolving the issue, acknowledging the Commission’s latest guidance and expressing willingness to address remaining concerns.

Sabastian Niles, President and General Counsel of Salesforce, called on the Commission to implement a fast, binding and effective solution to ensure free and fair market choices.

German competitor Alfaview, which also filed a complaint, expressed its support for the Commission’s accusations against Microsoft.

(With inputs from Reuters)