Meta, WhatsApp's petition against CCI's fine of Rs 213.14 crore accepted by NCLAT
NCLAT: Appellate Tribunal NCLAT on Thursday accepted the petitions of Meta Platforms and WhatsApp against the order of fair trade regulator CCI. What is the whole matter, read ahead.
On Thursday, the Appellate Tribunal NCLAT accepted the petitions of Meta Platforms and WhatsApp against the order of the fair trade regulator CCI. CCI had imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore for abuse of market dominance. After hearing the initial arguments of Meta and CCI on this issue, a two-member bench of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) said that the issue needs to be considered.
The NCLAT bench said, "We believe that the arguments presented by the parties need to be considered. We accept both the appeals." The bench also included its chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan. However, on the interim relief of staying the CCI order, NCLAT said that it will decide next week.
The counsel for WhatsApp and Meta Platform, while arguing the case before the appellant tribunal, prayed for a stay on the CCI order. Usually, the counsel appearing for the Competition Commission of India opposed the same.
On November 18, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) slapped social media major Meta with a Rs 213.14-crore fine for anti-competitive practices regarding its update to WhatsApp privacy policy in 2021. Besides that, the competition regulator told Meta to avoid anti-competitive conduct henceforth.
The CCI order also directed Meta and WhatsApp to implement certain behavioral measures in a stipulated timeframe to redress the anti-competitive issues.
