New Delhi: The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has permitted Meta Platforms and WhatsApp LLC to remove confidential commercial information from the public version of its November 4 ruling that affirmed the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) ₹213 crore penalty for abuse of dominance in the OTT messaging market.
In an order reported by LiveLaw, a bench led by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka allowed both companies to strike out sections flagged as confidential in their submissions. These portions—highlighted in blue—will be deleted from the judgment uploaded on the tribunal’s website and omitted from all certified copies. The tribunal also made it clear that the redacted content will not be open for inspection.
The move follows separate requests from the two companies. WhatsApp sought removal of confidential extracts on pages 194–196 of the judgment; with the CCI raising no objection, the tribunal directed immediate deletion. Meta requested redaction of blue-marked commercial information on pages 200–202, limited to select paragraphs. The bench again approved the request, noting CCI’s consent.
The underlying November 4 ruling had upheld the CCI’s conclusion that WhatsApp and Meta imposed unfair terms by mandating acceptance of the 2021 privacy policy, which expanded sharing of WhatsApp user data across Meta entities. The tribunal agreed with the CCI that privacy falls within the ambit of competition analysis, observing that data overreach can lower service quality and function as a non-price competitive parameter.
However, the NCLAT did not support all aspects of the CCI’s order. It struck down the five-year ban on sharing WhatsApp user data for advertising purposes, stating that the restriction lacked adequate justification. The tribunal also overturned the CCI’s finding of leveraging under Section 4(2)(e), noting that Meta and WhatsApp operate as separate legal entities for the purposes of that provision.
Despite these partial reversals, the core findings against the companies stand. The ₹213 crore penalty remains intact, along with CCI’s conclusions on unfair conditions and restriction of market access under Sections 4(2)(a)(i) and 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act.
The redacted order is expected to be uploaded after the mandated deletions are completed.
