Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said Google must change its contracts with handset vendors by 18 November, having previously ruled that the search giant was abusing its market position.

The FAS decided in September that Google was breaching competition rules, following a complaint by local search rival Yandex.

The case concerned availability of the Google Play app store to vendors only as part of a package including other Google products, with mandatory positioning on device homepages.

Google has until next month to adjust its agreements with vendors which restricts which apps can be pre-installed, said the agency.

It potentially faces a fine ranging from one per cent to 15 per cent of the turnover of the market in pre-installed apps in Russia during 2014, if it fails to comply.

Yandex has offered its own version of Android, with its apps and services replacing those of Google, and with vendors named as supporters. However, it was subsequently reported that these device makers had been pressurised by Google not to support the rival offering.

Although Yandex still has a dominant share of the Russian search market, its position has been on the slide due to the increasing use of mobile search which, on Android devices, has given Google a boost.

Google is also subject to an EU investigation as to whether its Android activities breach antitrust rules.