NCLAT stays CCI's 5-yr ban on WhatsApp data sharing

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Thursday stayed part of a November 2024 order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that barred WhatsApp from sharing user data with other Meta platforms for advertising purposes for five years.

- Aditi Agrawal

NEW DELHI:

The CCI order had also imposed a ₹213.14 crore penalty on WhatsApp for violating the Competition Act by using its market dominance to "coerce" users into accepting a privacy update that allowed sharing of data with platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

The NCLAT chairperson Ashok Bhushan, while putting on hold the five-year moratorium, ruled that WhatsApp will have to pay 50% of the penalty within two weeks. Other parts of the CCI order, which included providing an opt-out option, were not stayed.

"We are of the prima facie view that ban of five years imposed in paragraph 247.1 needs to be stayed. We are however of the view that the directions issued by the CCI under paras 247.2 and 247.3 need not to be stayed and they need to be complied with," his order said.