A COMPLAINT that Apple’s music download service is exploiting customers has been referred to the European Commission.

The consumer body Which? wrote to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in September, asking it to investigate why prices for using the iTunes service are 20 per cent higher in Britain than in France and Germany.

The OFT, the competition watchdog, has asked the European Commission to look into the matter.

Phil Evans, principal policy adviser at Which?, formerly the Consumers’ Association, said: “UK consumers are getting a raw deal from Apple. The online music market is a huge growth area; the single market should work the same in this market as in others. We’re campaigning for free movement of goods and services in Europe and we’ll take on any company, or group of companies, that seek to carve up the market to their benefit.”

In Britain, it costs music fans 79p to download one track from iTunes; in France and Germany the price is 68p.

The OFT said in a statement: “Which? complained to the OFT under the Competition Act 1998 that Apple’s iTunes service discriminated on price according to the user’s country of residence and that United Kingdom users were unable to benefit from cheaper prices charged on other European iTunes sites, as access to sites serving other countries was barred to non-residents.

“The OFT has decided that the European Commission is better placed to consider this matter, in particular as Apple iTunes operates in more than three EC member states.

“In addition, the OFT considers that the European Commission is in a better position fully to address the issues raised by Which? in the context of wider single-market issues relating to how the online exploitation of music is licensed across Europe.” Nobody from Apple was available to comment.

The company previously told Which?: “The underlying economic model in each country has an impact on how we price our track downloads. That’s not unusual. We believe the real comparison is with the price of other track downloads in the United Kingdom.”

This week Apple was at the centre of a row between download companies after it was allowed to sell the new Band Aid single through its iTunes website for a cut-price 79p.

Apple had refused to sell the download of Do They Know Its Christmas? for £1.49, the price agreed between other music websites and Band Aid. Apple refused to alter its 79p pricing structure for the charity song but attempts to broker an agreement were stepped up after the row was exposed in The Times.

A spokesman for Apple said: “Apple is pleased to offer the Band Aid 20 single on the iTunes Music Store to raise funds for the plight of hunger and poverty in Africa.

“Since all songs on iTunes are £0.79, we’ve decided to sell it for £0.79 and Apple will donate an additional £0.70 for each downloaded song to the Band Aid Charitable Trust.”

Apple’s competitors were furious, suggesting that the American giant’s gesture had as much to do with maintaining market share as helping Africa.

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