Plea Alleging WhatsApp’s Abuse Of Dominant Position Quashed By NCLAT

The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has quashed a plea accusing instant messaging app WhatsApp of indulging in predatory pricing.

The two-member bench of the NCLAT also upheld a 2017 order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that dismissed the complaint alleging abuse of dominant position by the Meta-owned company.

An NGO, Fight for Transparency Society, had claimed that WhatsApp was involved in predatory pricing tactics by not charging any subscription fee from the users.

According to a PTI report, the NCLAT said that while there is no doubt that WhatsApp has a ‘dominant position’, it has not ‘abused its dominant position’ based on inputs provided by the appellant.

“We do not find any inconformity in the findings of the CCI and hence, the appeal deserves to be dismissed and accordingly is dismissed,” the NCLAT said in an order dated August 2.

The NGO had also levelled the charge of abuse of dominant position on WhatsApp over multiple changes to privacy policy made by the messaging app since its acquisition by Facebook (now Meta) in 2014. 

The NCLAT observed that simply the updation of terms and conditions and the users consenting or non-consenting to it does not amount to an abuse of dominant position in the relevant market where WhatsApp is operating as one of the service providers in the form of messaging app. 

The bench also noted that multiple messaging providers are available in the market. “In the digital age it has become a common practice,” the bench added. 

It is pertinent to note that after the CCI’s rejection of the plea, the NGO had filed an appeal in the matter before the NCLAT requesting that the competition watchdog’s order be set aside and orders be issued for launching a probe in the matter.

Apart from this, WhatsApp is also facing another probe by the CCI over the messaging platform’s contentious 2021 privacy policy update. In the latest clutch of pleas filed by WhatsApp and Facebook, the platforms have appealed against a previous order that dismissed their petitions against the investigation launched by the CCI into WhatsApp’s updated privacy policy.

At the last hearing in July, the Delhi High Court deferred the hearing till September after the parties involved in the case told the bench that similar issues were pending consideration before the Supreme Court.

Meta has also been rebuked by the authorities multiple times for lax implementation of legal notices and over failure to curb fake news.