New Delhi, Feb 22: The Supreme Court is set to hear on Monday the pleas filed by Meta Platforms and WhatsApp challenging a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore imposed on them by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) over their privacy policy.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, is likely to take up the matter.
Earlier, on February 3, the court made strong remarks against the two companies, saying they cannot “play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing.”
The bench observed that the platforms appeared to be creating a monopoly and misusing users’ private information.
Expressing concern over WhatsApp’s privacy policy, the court referred to “silent customers” who are unorganised, digitally dependent and often unaware of the impact of data-sharing rules. The judges said they would not allow the rights of citizens to be harmed.
The case relates to a CCI order that imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on the companies over alleged violations linked to WhatsApp’s privacy policy.
On November 4, 2025, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) set aside a part of the CCI order that had barred WhatsApp from sharing user data with Meta for advertising purposes for five years. However, the tribunal upheld the monetary penalty.
Later, the NCLAT clarified that its decision on privacy and consent safeguards would also apply to the collection and sharing of user data for non-WhatsApp purposes, including both advertising and non-advertising activities.
The Supreme Court had earlier said it would pass an interim order on February 9 and directed that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology be made a party to the appeals filed by the two companies.
The court is also hearing a cross-appeal filed by the CCI, which has challenged the NCLAT ruling to the extent that it allowed WhatsApp and Meta to continue sharing user data for advertising purposes. (IANS)
