U.K. consumer-protection group Which? said the iPhone maker had breached competition rules by tying consumers to its iCloud storage service.

Apple encouraged its users to sign up to iCloud to store photos, videos and other data while making it difficult to use alternative providers. Customers then had to pay for the service once their data exceeded the free 5GB limit,

Apple is facing an almost £3 billion ($3.78 billion) lawsuit after British consumer group Which? on Thursday alleged that the company

"We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anticompetitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise," Apple said.

Apple for £3bn over the way it deploys the iCloud. If the lawsuit succeeds, around 40 million Apple customers in the UK could be entitled to a payout. The lawsuit claims Apple, which controls iOS operating systems,

The consumer rights group believes the tech giant has broken competition law by ‘trapping’ people with Apple devices into using its iCloud service.