New Delhi, February 23 Global tech giants Meta Platforms Inc. and WhatsApp told the Supreme Court on Monday that they would comply with the NCLAT's directions to extend the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) guidelines on privacy and consent to data related to advertising.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing appeals filed by the tech giants against the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) directions from last December.
The court is also considering a cross-appeal filed by the CCI, challenging the NCLAT ruling that allowed WhatsApp and Meta to continue sharing users' data for advertising purposes.
"These applications essentially seek a direction to stay the NCLAT judgment to the extent that it approves the direction issued by the CCI, directing Meta to comply with the directions contained in the NCLAT order dated December 15, 2025, which contains certain directions issued to Meta," the CJI said.
Taking note of the submissions made by senior counsel Kapil Sibal on behalf of WhatsApp that the appellants (the two tech giants) have decided to implement the tribunal's directions by March 16, the CJI dismissed the applications seeking a stay.
He, however, clarified that the pleas are being dismissed, without prejudice to the issues in the main appeal. The CJI also sought a compliance report from the companies.
"Meanwhile, the appellants' affidavit regarding the privacy policy may be examined by the CCI and a response be placed on record," he said.
WhatsApp is owned by Meta Platforms Inc.
The apex court is hearing the appeals of the tech giants against a CCI order that imposed a penalty of Rs 213.14 crore on them over WhatsApp's privacy policy.
On February 3, in a stinging rebuke, the court told both the firms that they cannot "play with the right to privacy of citizens in the name of data sharing", and accused them of creating a monopoly in the market and committing theft of customers' private information.
Describing WhatsApp's privacy policy, the court referred to "silent customers", who are unorganized, digitally dependent and unaware of the implications of data-sharing policies, and said, "We will not allow the rights of any citizen of this country to be damaged."
On November 4, 2025, the NCLAT set aside a section of a CCI order that had banned the instant-messaging app from sharing data with Meta Platforms for advertising purposes for five years, but retained a Rs 213-crore penalty on the social-media platform.
Later, the tribunal clarified that its order in the WhatsApp matter on privacy and consent safeguards also applies to user-data collection and sharing for non-WhatsApp purposes, including non-advertising and advertising.
