The UK Competition Appeal Tribunal has certified Dr Maria Luisa Stasi’s collective claim against Microsoft over Windows Server licensing on rival cloud platforms. The opt-out case can now proceed, but no damages have been awarded and Microsoft has not been found liable. The claimant estimates losses above £1.7 billion; that is a claim figure, not a promised payout.
What the Tribunal decided
On 21 April 2026, the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) granted a collective proceedings order on an opt-out basis. In its case materials and judgment, the Tribunal treated the proposed claim as apparently viable with a good prospect of success at the certification stage. That is a procedural assessment of whether the case can proceed collectively, including whether the proposed method for assessing class-wide loss is suitable. It is not a finding that Microsoft broke the law or that the alleged losses have been proved.
Microsoft opposed certification, arguing in part that the claim lacked an adequate blueprint for trial and should not proceed wholly on an opt-out basis. The Tribunal certified the case on the terms sought by the proposed class representative. The allegations will still need to be tested in the proceedings.
What the claim alleges about Windows Server pricing
The case concerns Windows Server licences used with cloud services. The claim names Microsoft Azure and rival providers Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform and Alibaba Cloud. It advances two related allegations:
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Higher wholesale prices for rival cloud providers
Dr Stasi alleges that Microsoft charged rival cloud service providers higher prices for Windows Server under Service Provider License Agreements (SPLAs) than equivalent licence prices charged to Azure users. The claim says rival providers passed at least some of those costs on to customers, making Windows Server workloads more expensive on those clouds.
Re-licensing fees for some existing licence holders
The claimant also alleges that certain organisations with on-premises Windows Server licences could use the software on Azure without re-licensing fees but had to pay substantial fees to use it on a listed rival cloud. This part of the case concerns a proposed sub-class of licence holders with Software Assurance.
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The claimant’s overall theory is that the terms made Azure more attractive and harmed organisations that continued to run Windows Server workloads on rival clouds. These remain allegations, not established findings in this damages case.
How much is the claim worth?
The claim form summary estimates aggregate damages of approximately £1.7 billion to £2.1 billion. It attributes about £1.7 billion to alleged SPLA pricing losses for the proposed class and up to £2.1 billion to alleged re-licensing losses for the proposed sub-class. The Tribunal describes the application as seeking estimated aggregate damages in excess of £1.7 billion. These are claimant estimates from the 2025 filing, not a court award, settlement, or confirmed calculation of loss.
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There is no payout amount for organisations to claim at this stage. Any eventual damages would depend on the outcome of the litigation and the evidence about liability and loss.
Which organisations may fall within the proposed class?
The proposed class is defined as UK-domiciled organisations that obtained a Windows Server licence from one of the listed providers during the claim period, which the claimant defines as beginning on 3 December 2018 and ending on the date of judgment. A proposed sub-class covers class members who held an on-premises Windows Server licence with Software Assurance during the relevant sub-class period.
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The claimant estimates that approximately 59,000 organisations may be in the proposed class. That is an estimate, not a confirmed count of eligible members. The case is opt-out, but an organisation should not assume it qualifies from this summary alone: the formal claim definition, exclusions, licence history, provider and dates matter.
- Check whether the organisation was UK-domiciled.
- Identify whether it obtained a Windows Server licence through Azure, AWS, Google Cloud Platform or Alibaba Cloud, and when.
- For the proposed sub-class, check whether it held an on-premises Windows Server licence with Software Assurance during the relevant period.
These are screening points, not legal advice or a final eligibility determination. The Tribunal’s case materials contain the governing claim documents.
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How the case relates to the CMA’s cloud findings
The CAT judgment recounts findings from the Competition and Markets Authority’s earlier cloud market investigation. The CMA said Microsoft’s licensing practices materially disadvantaged AWS and Google in relation to Windows Server and SQL Server, and that some input costs were passed on to customers. That regulatory context helps explain the dispute, but it is separate from the Stasi damages case: the CAT still has to determine the allegations and any claimed loss in these proceedings.
The CMA is also conducting a separate strategic market status investigation into Microsoft’s business software ecosystem. Its published timetable is indicative, with a proposed decision consultation envisaged for October 2026 and a final decision report and SMS decision notice by February 2027; the statutory deadline is 13 February 2027. Those dates may change, and this regulatory process is not the damages claim.
A further, unrelated CMA matter concerns Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plan communications before renewal, including plan changes and Copilot features. The CMA says it has made no infringement finding in that consumer-protection investigation. It is not part of the Windows Server cloud pricing case.
What happens next?
Microsoft’s application for permission to appeal the certification decision was refused at a hearing on 20 May 2026, and Microsoft renewed its application before the Court of Appeal. The CAT case page lists the next case management conference for 4 December 2026. Appellate status and hearing dates can change; the Tribunal’s live case page is the place to check the latest listing.
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