German antitrust authority says PayPal practices may restrict competition

Germany's antitrust authority, the Federal Cartel Office, said on Wednesday that PayPal's prohibition against online merchants charging customers extra fees to use the payment method may restrict competition and violate the law.

PayPal didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

"According to the Bundeskartellamt's preliminary assessment, this prohibition could restrict competition between various payment services and violate competition law," the cartel office said, referring to itself by its German name.