Apple has been slammed with a €1.84bn (£1.57bn) fine from the EU’s antitrust body for unfair trading practices, which largely consisted of an extra fee known as a deterrent.

This is the first time the EU Commission has added a monetary deterrent to a fine, which added the whopping 1.8bn euros to the original fine, acting as a punishment for Apple’s behaviour and to deter the company from committing similar practices.

The complaint was brought up originally in 2019 by Spotify, the Swedish music streaming platform, over the Apple Store’s 30% fees for in-app purchases.

Spotify alleges that Apple prevented itself and other music streaming apps from telling their users about other payment options outside of Apple’s App Store, which would stop Apple from receiving the 30% commission on the purchases.

The charge is why certain apps, including Netflix, do not let users sign up for subscription services in mobile apps as Apple would take away some of their profit.

The EU said that Apple’s trading conditions were unfair in their ruling, and the deterrent was added as a large part of the harm Apple’s practices caused were non-monetary.

“For a decade, Apple abused its dominant position in the market for the distribution of music streaming apps through the App Store,” EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager said in a statement.

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“They did so by restricting developers from informing consumers about alternative, cheaper music services available outside of the Apple ecosystem. This is illegal under EU antitrust rules.”

Apple is already saying it will challenge the decision, saying in a statement: “The decision was reached despite the Commission’s failure to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm, and ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast.”

The new ruling mimics the same restrictions brought on by the Digital Markets Act, which would also call for Apple to remove its App Store restrictions by 7 March.