Meta, WhatsApp move Supreme Court against NCLAT's ₹213 crore penalty order

Social media conglomerate Meta and instant messaging platform WhatsApp have moved the Supreme Court against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) order that upheld the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on Meta for abuse of dominance under competition laws.

 

The appellate tribunal had last year set aside the market regulator’s direction debarring Meta and WhatsApp from sharing user data with other Meta group entities for advertising purposes for five years, but had retained the penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on the company, along with the other directions issued by the CCI.

 

The regulator had concluded that this “take-it-or-leave-it” approach related to WhatsApp’s privacy policy of 2021 amounted to an abuse of dominance in the market for over-the-top messaging services. It said that the policy forced users to accept the sharing of their data with other Meta companies for continued access to WhatsApp.

   

A two-member Bench of NCLAT — chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and technical member Arun Baroka — had, however, struck down the CCI’s finding that Meta had abused its dominant position in the messaging market to strengthen its hold on online advertising. It had earlier, in January 2025, granted interim relief to the tech companies by staying the five-year data-sharing ban, noting that such a restriction could disrupt WhatsApp’s free-to-use business model.

 

The dispute dates back to January 2021, when WhatsApp rolled out its updated privacy policy mandating data sharing with Meta group firms. The CCI took suo motu cognisance, observing that the update effectively removed users’ choice to opt out of data sharing. The regulator said the “take it or leave it” approach took away users’ autonomy and violated the Competition Act, 2002.

 

In its November 2024 order, the CCI fined Meta and WhatsApp Rs 213.14 crore, prohibited them from sharing user data with Meta or its affiliates for five years, and directed them to disclose the specific purpose behind each category of data collected. Meta Platforms and WhatsApp then challenged the CCI order.