The giants of the technology world were grilled by an Australian parliamentary committee on Friday over alleged price discrimination against Australian consumers.

Apple, Adobe, and Microsoft were all in front of the committee, where it’s reported the Australian bosses of Microsoft and Adobe were accused of being “evasive” by the MPs conducting the inquiry.

The parliamentary investigation is looking into why Australians pay in many cases hundreds of dollars more than those in the US for identical tech products.

It comes after the House of Representatives Committee on Infrastructure and Communications issued summons to the three companies to appear before the Parliament, to answer questions posed by consumer advocates that Australian consumers have been the victims of price gouging.

Adobe Australia managing director Paul Robson argued that the added cost of doing business in Australia justified price increases of up to 70%, while both Adobe and Microsoft said newer web-based subscription versions of their software are priced more fairly here.  

However, it has been reported neither could justify the massive premiums charged for the full physical and downloadable versions of the software.