CCI imposed fine on Meta, the company expressed disagreement with the commission's decision

Internet media company Meta has said that it does not agree with the decision of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to impose a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on it and plans to appeal against it. The CCI on Monday imposed a fine of Rs 213.14 crore on the company. This fine has been imposed for adopting unfair business practices in relation to WhatsApp's privacy policy update in 2021.

Plan to appeal

In addition, the CCI has directed Meta to cease and desist from anti-competitive behavior. According to the CCI order, Meta and WhatsApp have also been asked to implement certain practical measures within a specified time frame to address anti-competition issues. A Meta spokesperson said that the company disagrees with the CCI's decision and plans to appeal against it.

The spokesperson said, 'It is worth noting that the 2021 'update' did not make any changes to the privacy of people's personal messages and it was offered as an option to the user at that time. We also ensured that no account is deleted or WhatsApp service is disrupted due to this 'update'. Meta said that this 'update' is about introducing alternative business features on WhatsApp.

In the order, CCI said that this fine has been imposed for implementing WhatsApp's 2021 privacy policy, collecting users' data and sharing it with other companies of Meta. Meta and WhatsApp have also been ordered to implement practical measures within a fixed time frame to resolve anti-competition issues. Meta Group dominates the messaging app market in India through WhatsApp.

It also provides more transparency about data collection and use. Meanwhile, the CCI has banned WhatsApp from sharing data collected on its platform with other Meta companies or other Meta company products for advertising purposes for five years.