BRUSSELS, April 29 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators

on Monday designated Apple's ( AAPL ) operating system for iPads

as a gatekeeper under the bloc's landmark tech rules subject to

strict obligations aimed at ensuring a level playing field for

rivals and more choices for users.

The European Commission said its investigation found that

iPadOS constitutes an important gateway for business users to

reach end users and that Apple ( AAPL ) enjoys an entrenched and durable

position with respect to iPadOS.

"Apple ( AAPL ) has now six months to ensure full compliance with the

DMA (Digital Markets Act) obligations as applied to iPadOS," the

EU executive which acts as the competition enforcer in the

European Union said in a statement.