Meta Platforms Inc has filed an appeal on Monday with the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against a ruling by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore for misusing its dominant position. The petition was presented before a bench of the NCLAT, which included its Chairperson, Justice Ashok Bhushan. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Mukul Rohatgi, representing Meta, sought an expedited hearing due to the significance and implications of the case. The three-member bench, which also included technical members Barun Mitra and Arun Baroka, scheduled the petition for hearing on January 16.
Recent Developments Regarding Meta’s Penalty
On November 18, the CCI penalised the social media giant Meta with a Rs 213.14 crore fine due to unfair business practices linked to the WhatsApp privacy policy changes made in 2021. In addition to the penalty, the competition regulator has mandated that Meta:
- Cease and desist from any anti-competitive behaviour.
- Implement specific behavioural remedies within a specified timeframe to rectify the anti-competitive concerns.
Key Directives from the CCI
The regulator has outlined various remedial measures, which include:
- Preventing WhatsApp from sharing data gathered on its platform with other Meta companies or products for advertising purposes for a period of five years.
- Ensuring that access to WhatsApp services in India is not dependent on the sharing of user data collected on WhatsApp with other Meta entities for purposes not related to providing WhatsApp services.