‘Apple breached rules with App Store restrictions’

European Union regulators on Monday levelled their first charges under the bloc’s new digital competition rulebook, accusing Apple of preventing app makers from pointing users to cheaper options on other venues.

The European Commission said that according to the preliminary findings of its investigation, the restrictions that the iPhone maker imposes on developers using its mobile App Store had breached the 27-nation bloc’s Digital Markets Act.

The rulebook, also known as the DMA, is a sweeping set of regulations aimed at preventing tech “gatekeepers” from cornering digital markets under threat of heavy financial penalties.