NCLAT Allows Meta, WhatsApp To Redact Confidential Portions From Judgment Upholding ₹213 Crore CCI Penalty
Pranav B Prem
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), New Delhi has permitted Meta Platforms and WhatsApp LLC to remove confidential commercial information from its November 4 judgment that upheld the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) ₹213 crore penalty for abuse of dominance in the OTT messaging market. A Bench of Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka allowed the applications filed by the companies and directed that the excerpts identified as confidential and highlighted in blue in their submissions be deleted from the public version of the ruling as well as from certified copies. The Tribunal also made it clear that inspection of the redacted material would not be permitted.
WhatsApp’s counsel pointed out that the confidential content was contained on pages 194 to 196 of the judgment and sought removal of the same. After recording submissions on behalf of the CCI, the Bench noted that the regulator expressed no objection to the request. Accordingly, it ordered that the designated material be removed from the version uploaded on the NCLAT website and from all certified copies.
Meta made a similar plea for redaction of content located on pages 200 to 202, specifying that only certain segments marked in blue within the identified paragraphs required deletion. With the CCI again raising no opposition, the Bench directed that only the precise blue-highlighted portions be removed from the judgment, certified copies, and inspection records.
The November 4 verdict had confirmed the CCI’s findings that WhatsApp and Meta abused their dominant position in the Indian OTT messaging market by imposing unfair data-sharing terms and obliging users to accept the revised 2021 privacy policy, which enabled wider transfer of WhatsApp user data to Meta platforms. The Tribunal also held that the interface between privacy and competition concerns does not restrict the CCI’s jurisdiction to examine anti-competitive behaviour, noting that privacy constitutes a non-price parameter and that excessive collection of personal data can amount to deterioration in service quality.
However, the NCLAT set aside the CCI’s five-year prohibition on sharing WhatsApp user data for advertising purposes, finding that the restriction lacked adequate basis. It also overturned the CCI’s finding of leveraging under Section 4(2)(e) on the ground that WhatsApp and Meta are distinct legal entities. While the appeals were partly allowed, the ₹213 crore penalty and the findings relating to unfair conditions and restriction of market access under Sections 4(2)(a)(i) and 4(2)(c) were upheld.
Cause Title: WhatsApp LLC v CCI
Case No: IA No 6913 of 2025 in Competition Appeal No. 1 of 2025
Coram: Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan, Technical Member Arun Baroka
