The NCLAT ruled on 4 November 2025 that the CCI’s directive barring WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta group companies for advertising for five years was legally unsustainable, yet it retained the penalty imposed for unfair business practices. 
A two‑member bench comprising Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka observed: “The directions issued by the CCI to cease and desist in paragraph 247.1, i.e. ‘247.1 WhatsApp will not share user data collected on its platform with other Meta Companies or Meta Company Products for advertising purposes, for a period of 5 years from the date of receipt of this order…. is not sustainable and is set aside.” 
The tribunal upheld the penalty, noting:“Penalty imposed of Rs 213.14 crore only (by CCI) upon Meta is upheld.” 
The dispute originated with WhatsApp’s January 2021 privacy‑policy update that required users to accept expanded data‑sharing with Meta or risk losing access. The CCI had found this amounted to coercive “take‑it‑or‑leave‑it” conditions in violation of Section 4(2)(a)(i) and Section 4(2)(c) of the Competition Act. 
While modifying the order the NCLAT explained that the “rationale for the duration of 5 years’ ban was missing altogether in the impugned order.” 
The tribunal also struck down the finding that Meta had leveraged its dominance in OTT‑messaging to extend into the display‑advertising market under Section 4(2)(e), saying the evidence was insufficient. 
The ruling offers partial relief to WhatsApp and Meta’s business model in India but underscores that dominant firms remain accountable for imposing unfair conditions on users. It also signals that competition law in digital markets will increasingly consider user consent and data‑sharing as service‑quality issues. 
