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ARTICLE · 03 MARCH 2026

Privacy And Digital Practices – A Competition Lens

Shivadass & Shivadass
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NCLAT recently delivered its judgment in WhatsApp v. Competition Commission of India, in an appeal that arose from the CCI's order, holding that WhatsApp's 2021 Privacy Policy Update, amounted to an abuse of dominant position under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002.

IndiaPrivacy
Prahalad Sriram
Prahalad Sriram
Prashanth Shivadass
Prashanth Shivadass
Sandra Lisa Philip
Sandra Lisa Philip

Introduction

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal ('NCLAT') recently delivered its judgment in WhatsApp v. Competition Commission of India, in an appeal that arose from the CCI's order, holding that WhatsApp's 2021 Privacy Policy Update ('2021 Policy'), amounted to an abuse of dominant position under Section 4 of the Competition Act, 2002 ('Act').

At its core, the dispute concerned whether a dominant messaging platform could mandate expansive data sharing with its parent company, i.e., Meta in the present case, and whether such mandate affected competition in the digital advertising market.

The CCI had delineated two relevant markets: (i) the market for Over-the-Top ('OTT') messaging apps through smartphones in India; and (ii) the market for online display advertising in India.

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