WhatsApp's Gets Relief; NCLAT Stays Ban On User Data Sharing Policy, Orders Meta To Pay 50% Of ₹213 Crore Penalty

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday overturned the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) 5-year ban on WhatsApp for sharing user data with other Meta group companies.

Which was a significant victory for Mark Zuckerberg's Meta Inc. A 50 per cent deposit was required in order for the appellate tribunal to stay the Rs 213 crore penalty.

Conflict between CCI and WhatsApp parent Meta

WhatsApp's parent company, Meta, was fined Rs 213.1 crore by the CCI in November for 'abusing its dominant position' in enforcing the messaging app's privacy policy in 2021.

The privacy policy 'was implemented and how user data was collected and shared with other Meta companies' are the subjects of the action against Meta.

In addition to issuing cease-and-desist orders, the CCI instructed Meta and WhatsApp to put specific behavioral corrections into place within a specified time frame.

WhatsApp updated privacy policy from 2021

The underlying problem stems from WhatsApp's January 2021 in-app notification that users must accept its updated privacy policy by February 8, 2021, or risk the service being discontinued.

A fine of Rs 213.14 crore was imposed by the order for allegedly abusing Meta's dominant position in connection with a contentious 2021 update to its WhatsApp messaging service's privacy policy. Furthermore, the CCI's decision prohibited Meta from exchanging user data with other platforms for a period of five years.

Published on: Thursday, January 23, 2025, 11:03 AM IST