NCLAT allows Meta, WhatsApp to redact confidential data from CCI penalty judgment

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) in Delhi has granted permission to Meta Platforms and WhatsApp LLC to redact confidential commercial information from the public version of its November 4 judgment. That ruling upheld a ₹213 crore penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for abuse of dominance in the Over-The-Top (OTT) messaging market.

A bench, led by Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan, directed that specific portions of the judgment identified by the parties be removed from the publicly accessible copy and all certified copies. The tribunal also barred inspection of the redacted sections.

Meta and WhatsApp requested the removal of confidential material from separate sections of the judgment, which the CCI did not object to. The NCLAT directed that the content highlighted in blue in the parties' submissions be omitted.

The underlying November 4 judgment upheld the CCI's finding that WhatsApp and Meta abused their dominant market position by imposing unfair data-sharing terms through the mandatory acceptance of the 2021 privacy policy. The NCLAT affirmed the CCI's jurisdiction, ruling that excessive data collection—a non-price factor—amounts to a reduction in service quality.

Despite this, the NCLAT partially allowed the appeals by setting aside the CCI's five-year prohibition on sharing WhatsApp user data for advertising purposes, stating the restriction lacked adequate justification. It also overturned the finding of leveraging under Section 4(2)(e), based on Meta and WhatsApp being distinct legal entities.

The NCLAT’s findings on unfair conditions and restriction of market access under the Competition Act remain, and the ₹213 crore penalty against the companies stands.