UrBC, Moscow, July 30, 2018. A new law might be adopted in Russia in April 2019 that will make it obligatory for smartphone and computer manufacturers to preinstall Russian-developed web browsers, mail services, audio playing programs, and other apps on their products, Kommersant reports.

This initiative is part of a ‘roadmap' on promoting competition that the Federal Antimonopoly Service presented to the government. The bill is to be elaborated by the Communications Ministry and co-elaborated by the FAS and the consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.

According to the proposed legislation, device manufacturers will also have to make sure users can deinstall all the preinstalled software programs and apps except for the service ones. This is expected to offer the users more choices and replacement options, the FAS states.

It is reported that the bill has already been presented to the Russian Government. The draft version was presented in early April. The FAS said earlier that they kept getting ‘customer complaints relating to service apps on their smartphones and tablets that get preinstalled automatically and that cannot get deleted.’ The FAS believes this applies to web browsers, mail services, audio playing programs, and so on.