In connection with the Australian Federal Parliamentary Committee's digital prices inquiry that has been running since July 2012, Apple, Adobe and Microsoft have been summonsed to appear before the investigation, which chiefly pertains to the high costs which Australian consumers have to pay for digital music, software, games and hardware.

According to a statement released by the House Committee on Infrastructure and Communications, the federal government has formally subpoenaed Apple, Adobe and Microsoft to a public hearing scheduled to be held on March 22.

The formal summoning by the federal government will apparently force the three companies to elaborate the reason behind the higher prices which Australian consumers - vis-a-vis their counterparts in the US and the UK - have to pay for digital goods.

The digital prices inquiry was brought about by Ed Husic - Labor Member of Parliament for the western Sydney seat of Chifley - who told Billboard. biz that the Australian consumers were being charged a nearly three times higher price for some tunes available at the iTunes store in the country, as compared to the costs which US customers were paying for the same tunes.

Bringing in an inquiry over the issue, Husic said: "I still can't work out why the differences are as great as they are. Why a track that might $2.99 here cost $0.99 in the U. S. And I think it is time Apple and others explained the differences in pricing."