The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has clarified that the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) remedial directions on WhatsApp’s data-sharing practices will apply to all non-WhatsApp purposes, including advertising-related data use.
Issuing the clarification on a plea filed by the CCI, the Tribunal said its earlier judgment dated 4 November 2025 was intended to uniformly enforce the principle of user choice, transparency and revocable consent, irrespective of whether data is shared for advertising or non-advertising purposes.
While NCLAT had earlier set aside the CCI’s five-year ban on WhatsApp sharing user data for advertising due to lack of justification, it was noted that this did not dilute the obligation to obtain express, informed and revocable user consent for any non-essential data sharing. The Tribunal noted that an inadvertent inconsistency in the operative portion of its judgment could lead to confusion and therefore required clarification.
Accordingly, NCLAT held that remedial directions requiring WhatsApp to disclose the nature and purpose of data sharing, provide opt-out mechanisms, and ensure user control will also govern advertising-related data sharing. The Tribunal rejected arguments by WhatsApp and Meta that the clarification amounted to a review or imposed fresh obligations, stating that it merely aligned the operative directions with the court’s findings.
WhatsApp has been granted three months’ time to implement the necessary compliance measures.
Appearances:
For the Appellant: Mr. Mukul Rohatgi and Mr. Arun Kathpalia, Sr. Advocates with Mr. Yaman Verma, Mr. Shashank Mishra, Ms. Aisha Khan, Mr. Shivek Endlaw, Mr. Aditya Dhupar, Ms. Vedika Rathore and Ms. Devanshi Singh, Advocates for Whatsapp.
For the Respondent: Mr. Samar Bansal, Mr. Manu Chaturvedi, Adv. Vedint Kapur, Ms. Devika Singh Roy Chowdhary, Mr. Ahmed Jamal Siddiqui, Mr. Kshitiz Kishor Rai and Mr. Madhav Tripathi, Advocates for R-1/CCI.
Mr. Kapil Sibbal, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Naval Chopra, Ms. Supritha Prodaturi, Ms. Akshi Rastogi, Ms. Parinita Kare, Ms. Ritika Bansal, Ms. Raagini Agarwal, Ms. Anupama Reddy Eleti and Ms. Aparajita Jamwal, Advocates for R-4(Meta).
