WhatsApp didn’t abuse its dominant position in India, says NCLAT.

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) has upheld the CCI’s 2017 order in this regard while dismissing a petition filed against messaging company WhatsApp. Earlier, the CCI in its order had dismissed the complaint of unfair pricing against WhatsApp.

The NCLAT said there is no doubt that WhatsApp has a leading position in its field, but it has not misused it.

The appellant Fight for Transparency Society had accused WhatsApp of abusing its dominant position.

“We do not find any discrepancy in the findings of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and therefore the appeal deserves to be dismissed and is dismissed,” the NCLAT said in its order dated August 2, 2022.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) had on June 1, 2017 dismissed the NGO’s complaint alleging unfair pricing on WhatsApp.

The petition said that WhatsApp does not charge any subscription fee from its users. It further said that WhatsApp has made several changes to its privacy policy since its acquisition of Facebook, which is an abuse of its dominant position.

The complaint was rejected by the CCI, following which the NGO challenged the order before the NCLAT.