India, Nov. 4 -- The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday upheld the Competition Commission of India (CCI)'s Rs.213.14 crore penalty on WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, for the alleged abuse of dominant market position through WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update.

A bench of NCLAT Chairperson Justice Ashok Bhushan and Technical Member Arun Baroka, at the principal seat of the Tribunal in New Delhi, upheld CCI's findings that the update forced users into data sharing across Meta's platforms. It set aside the CCI's direction restraining WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta and its group companies for advertising purposes for five years.

The NCLAT agreed with the CCI's findings that WhatsApp's 2021 policy ...