Microsoft is facing a £1bn legal action in the UK over allegations it has been unfairly up-charging customers who use rival cloud providers. 

A claim has been filed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal accusing Microsoft of charging higher licensing fees for Windows Server to users of rival cloud computing providers. 

The claim alleges that British businesses using providers such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud over Azure have been charged more for using its software. 

The suit was filed by Dr Maria Luisa Stasi and law firm Scott+Scott on behalf of thousands of businesses. 

“Put simply, Microsoft is punishing UK businesses and organisations for using Google, Amazon and Alibaba for cloud computing by forcing them to pay more money for Windows Server. By doing so, Microsoft is trying to force customers into using its cloud computing service Azure and restricting competition in the sector,” Stasi said. 

“This lawsuit aims to challenge Microsoft’s anti-competitive behaviour, push them to reveal exactly how much businesses in the UK have been illegally penalised, and return the money to organisations that have been unfairly overcharged.” 

The legal action comes amid numerous accusations of anti-competitiveness against Microsoft in the cloud market. 

In September, a probe from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) prompted Google to accuse Microsoft of “significantly impeding customer choice” in the UK cloud market with its software licensing practices.  

This claim was supported by Amazon, which said there is “a history of cloud providers and customers being unhappy with Microsoft’s conduct,” and that Microsoft’s “conduct is artificially imposed and could be easily fixed”. 

UKTN has contacted Microsoft for comment. 

Read more: The UK cloud market doesn’t have to be this way 

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