Microsoft is expected to face an EU antitrust investigation in the months to come

According to persons familiar with the situation, Microsoft is likely to face an EU antitrust probe in the coming months after remedial efforts with the EU authority to avoid such a step appear to have reached a snag.

Microsoft, which had previously been fined EUR 2.2 billion (nearly Rs. 19,670 crore) for practises that violated EU competition rules, such as tying or bundling two or more products together, found itself in the crosshairs of the EU after a complaint by Salesforce-owned workspace messaging app Slack in 2020.

Microsoft made Teams available for free in Office 365 in 2017, with the app eventually replacing Skype for Business. 

Slack claimed that Teams, a workplace chat and video tool, had been unjustly merged into Microsoft's Office product.

Last year, Microsoft began negotiations with the European Commission in an attempt to avoid a probe. It has proposed lowering the cost of its Office suite without the Teams app.

According to the sources, the European Commission has been demanding a larger price decrease than that granted by the American software giant.

The EU Commission refuses to respond. 

"We continue to cooperate with the Commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well," a Microsoft representative said.