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ARTICLE · 06 JANUARY 2026

Privacy As A Parameter Of Competition: NCLAT Weighs In!

Shivadass & Shivadass
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The judgement provides jurisprudence on various aspects of data protection and competition law, that have not been considered by Courts in India before

IndiaAntitrust/Competition Law
Prahalad Sriram
Prahalad Sriram
Prashanth Shivadass
Prashanth Shivadass
Sandra Lisa Philip
Sandra Lisa Philip

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's ('NCLAT') decision in the WhatsApp-Meta case, is a major milestone for competition law in India. WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy update, which permitted WhatsApp to share user data with Meta without providing an opt-out mechanism for WhatsApp users, was under scrutiny after the Competition Commission of India ('CCI') had found WhatsApp and Meta to be in contravention of the Competition Act, 2002 ('Act').

The judgement provides jurisprudence on various aspects of data protection and competition law, that have not been considered by Courts in India before. For example, the NCLAT found that extensive and vague collection of vast amounts of data and sharing them with group entities/subsidiaries, amounted to a reduction in service quality, harming both users and competition in violation of Section 4 of the Act.

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