Meta goes to NCLAT against CCI's Rs 213 crore penalty on WhatsApp

Social media platform Meta on Monday moved the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), challenging a recent Competition Commission of India (CCI) order imposing a Rs 213 crore penalty on the firm related to WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update.

In November last year, the competition watchdog directed WhatsApp to not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, along with imposing a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for allegedly abusing its dominant position.

Meta has now informed the NCLAT that the CCI order has wide ramifications for the industry as a whole and therefore, an urgent hearing in the matter will be required.
The case will now come up for a hearing before the appellate tribunal on January 16.

WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users in the country.

Last year, after the CCI directed WhatsApp not to share user data collected on its platform with other Meta products or companies for advertising purposes for a period of five years, the social media platform said it disagreed with the CCI's decision and planned to appeal.

According to the CCI order, “The 2021 policy update by WhatsApp on a 'take it-or-leave-it' basis constitutes an imposition of unfair conditions under the Act, as it compels all users to accept expanded data collection terms and sharing of data within Meta Group without any opt-out.”

A Meta spokesperson has replied, saying that the 2021 WhatsApp update did not change the privacy of people's personal messages and was offered as a choice for users at the time.

"We also ensured no one would have their accounts deleted or lose functionality of the WhatsApp service because of this update. The update was about introducing optional business features on WhatsApp, and provided further transparency about how we collect and use data," according to the company spokesperson.

The CCI began a probe in March 2021 into WhatsApp's revised privacy policy, which enabled mandatory data sharing with Facebook (now Meta) and its companies, along with an expanded scope of data collection.