- Company
- Meta Platforms and WhatsApp
- Regulator or court
- Competition Commission of India (CCI)
- Law
- Competition Act, 2002
- Status
- Under appeal – cross-appeals pending in the Supreme Court of India
What happened
India's competition regulator found that WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update forced users to accept wider data sharing with other Meta companies or lose the service, which it treated as an abuse of a dominant position. It fined Meta ₹213.14 crore and ordered limits on sharing WhatsApp data for advertising. In November 2025 the appeal tribunal kept the fine but set aside the five-year ban on data sharing for ads.
Sources
Free Press Journal – NCLAT upholds fine, lifts data-sharing banThe Week – Supreme Court to hear Meta-WhatsApp case (Feb 2026)Summary in our own words. General information, not legal advice.