BRUSSELLS, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union (EU) on Monday hit Apple with a more than 1.8-billion-euro fine ($1.9 billion) for violating the bloc’s laws by preventing European users from accessing information about alternative, cheaper music streaming services.

The iPhone maker immediately vowed to appeal the first ever antitrust fine slapped on Apple by Brussels, the culmination of a case triggered by a complaint by Swedish streaming giant Spotify.

The European Commission found that “Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services” available outside the App Store.

“This is illegal under EU antitrust rules,” the EU’s powerful competition regulator said.

The 1.84-billion-euro penalty is the third-largest antitrust fine ever imposed by the commission.

The basic penalty for breaching EU rules was 40 million euros, but the commission’s competition enforcer, Margrethe Vestager said such a fine would have been a “parking ticket” to a giant the size of Apple.

For that reason, the commission added the huge sum of 1.8 billion euros as “deterrence”, she said. The total fine of 1.84 billion is equal to 0.5 percent of Apple’s worldwide turnover, she said.

“We have ordered Apple to remove the necessary provisions and to refrain from similar practices in the future,” Vestager added.

Spotify’s complaint in 2019 triggered a broad commission investigation into the iPhone maker in 2021, narrowed last year to focus on Apple’s actions to prevent apps from giving users information about rival music subscription options.

Vestager told reporters that Apple’s actions had “impacted millions of European consumers”.

“Some consumers may have paid more because they were unaware that they could pay less if they

Apple slammed the commission’s decision and said it would appeal.

“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,” Apple said in a statement.

“While we respect the European Commission, the facts simply don’t support this decision,” the company added.

Spotify welcomed the fine, saying it “sends a powerful message — no company, not even a monopoly like Apple, can wield power abusively to control how other companies interact with their customers.”