Only in April this year, social media giant Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Reliance Jio, India’s leading telecom company, to roll out services to grocers and small businesses using WhatsApp’s 400 million plus userbase in the country. The deal gives Facebook a 9.99% share in Reliance Jio. Now, the competitive Commission of India (CCI) is looking into allegations made against Facebook-owned WhatsApp, alleging the messaging app of misusing its dominant position and offering in-app payment service to its humongous user base.
According to a complaint filed against WhatsApp in mid-March, the messaging app was accused of providing payment facility within the app. It is accused of abusing its position and forcibly making inroads into the booming digital payments market in India through its millions of users. The digital payment market is currently dominated by Google Pay and Paytm.
Per reports, WhatsApp has been working aggressively at launching WhatsApp Pay – its payments platform in India. The service is currently being beta tested with one million users in the country since 2018. The absence of regulatory clearance has averted WhatsApp from releasing the service to his huge database in India yet.
The case is filed against both Facebook and WhatsApp; it’s reported that the complainant wants only WhatsApp to be investigated. CCI reserves the right to order a detailed investigation into the allegations or scrap off the case if it finds no merit in it. If rolled out, WhatsApp Pay will permit users to make inter-bank transfers from within the messaging app.
