Citing three people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported that this fine was likely to be announced in the second week of July though the timing could change.

If it is announced, this would be the second fine levied by the EU on Google. In June last year Google was fined €2.42 billion (US$2.7 billion) for allegedly abusing its search engine dominance to give illegal advantage to its own comparison shopping service. The company has appealed the decision.

It has also been reported that the company is likely to face an EU fine over its AdSense advertising system.

The EU has also floated the idea of breaking up Google into a number of smaller units, with the EU competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager saying the political bloc harbours "grave suspicions" about the firm's dominance of the search market.

In February, the Competition Commission of India hit the company with a fine of 135.86 crore rupees (about US$21.1 million) for "abusing its dominant position in online general Web search and Web search advertising services in India".

Google and other big multinational technology companies are also under pressure over alleged tax evasion, with the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, unveiling a proposal to tax these companies at a rate of 3% as an interim measure.

Reuters said that the fine over Android would be more than that already levied — €2.42 billion — so that it would act as a deterrent to other companies.

The EU was also set to tell Google to stop indulging in anti-competitive practices such as licensing deals which prevent smartphone vendors from promoting alternatives to services such as Google Search and Google Maps, the news agency said.

iTWire has contacted Google for comment.