Telegram Files Formal Antitrust Complaint With EU Over App Store Practices

Popular secure messaging app Telegram has filed a formal antitrust complaint with the European Union over App Store practices.

Apple has now been subjected to another antitrust complaint in the EU, this time from Telegram. In their complaint, the developers of Telegram claim that Apple is limiting competition by not allowing users to download apps from outside of the App Store, explains new report from Financial Times.

In the complaint addressed to EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager, Telegram’s creators argue that Apple must “allow users to have the opportunity of downloading software outside of the App Store.”

Earlier this week, Telegram published a blog post in which founder Pavel Durov blasted Apple’s App Store, highlighting what he says are “myths” Apple uses to justify its 30 percent tax on apps.

In its complaint, Telegram reportedly highlighted how in 2016 it restricted the company from launching a gaming platform deemed to violate App Store rules. The report explains that “Telegram risked being deleted from the App Store and dismantled the venture,” and alleged that it was “an example of Apple’s capacity to curb innovation thanks to its ‘monopolistic power’ on the app market.”

“Every quarter, Apple receives billions of dollars from third-party apps,” noted Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov. “Meanwhile, the expenses required to host and review these apps are in the tens of millions, not billions of dollars. We know that because we at Telegram host and review more public content than the App Store ever will.”

Telegram’s complaint joins previous complaints by Spotify, which has made antitrust complaints to the EU over Apple’s alleged monopoly power.