New Delhi, Nov. 4 – Meta Platforms and its popular messaging app WhatsApp have gained a partial win in India’s competition case over the app’s 2021 privacy policy update. The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) upheld the Rs 213.14 crore fine imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), but overturned two key parts of the CCI’s order: the finding that WhatsApp held a dominant position in India’s messaging market and the five‑year ban on sharing user data for advertising.
The case began in November 2024 when the CCI ruled that WhatsApp misused its market power. The regulator said the 2021 update forced every user to accept mandatory data sharing with other Meta companies, removing the option to opt out. CCI argued that this weakened competition in India’s online advertising sector and ordered WhatsApp to stop sharing data with Meta’s other businesses for five years.
In its decision, the NCLAT bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka said the CCI had overstepped its authority under Section 4(2)(e) of the Competition Act. The tribunal struck down the dominant‑position finding and removed the data‑sharing ban, noting that data‑protection matters lie outside the CCI’s powers and could harm WhatsApp’s free‑to‑use model.
A Meta spokesperson welcomed the ruling, saying the decision “does not affect the end‑to‑end encryption of personal messages”. The spokesperson added that WhatsApp’s business tools—bill payments, ticket booking, and online shopping—continue to help people and support India’s digital economy.
The full written order is still pending, but the NCLAT’s partial dismissal offers Meta a breather in the high‑stakes competition fight in India.
Source: ianslive
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