India’s Court Upholds ₹213 Crore Fine Against Meta Over WhatsApp’s Unfair Data Policies
India’s National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLT) has upheld a major ruling against Meta and WhatsApp over unfair data-sharing practices. On 4 November 2025, the tribunal confirmed that the companies abused their dominant position in the country’s OTT messaging market. The decision also maintained a fine of ₹213.14 crore imposed on Meta for violating competition laws.
The case centred on WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy, which the Competition Commission of India (CCI) found forced users to accept expanded data-sharing terms without genuine choice. The NCLT agreed that this practice breached Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the Competition Act, affirming the CCI’s earlier findings.
The NCLT’s ruling reinforces the CCI’s stance on WhatsApp and Meta’s market dominance and unfair data policies. The upheld penalty of ₹213.14 crore stands as a significant financial consequence for the companies. Certain parts of the judgment, however, will remain inaccessible to the public following the tribunal’s redaction orders.
Read also:
- American teenagers taking up farming roles previously filled by immigrants, a concept revisited from 1965's labor market shift.
- Weekly affairs in the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag)
- Landslide claims seven lives, injures six individuals while they work to restore a water channel in the northern region of Pakistan
- Escalating conflict in Sudan has prompted the United Nations to announce a critical gender crisis, highlighting the disproportionate impact of the ongoing violence on women and girls.
