The European Commission has announced that it has referred Hungary to the Court of Justice of the European Union over its national mobile payment system.
The Commission said the exclusive right granted to state-owned company Nemzeti Mobilfizetési to provide mobile payment services is an unjustified obstacle to the provision of services in the single market.
The commission stepped up its infringement procedure against Hungary on the matter, bringing it to the second phase, more than two years earlier. The mobile payment system was launched on July 1, 2014.
Hungary is not the only nation the EC is targeting. Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Spain also face proceedings on the grounds that national rules include excessive and unjustified obstacles to the provision of services across the internal market.