WhatsApp Provides Services In India To Its Users; Consumer Complaint Maintainable Against It: UP State Commission

The Commission, comprising Mr. Sushil Kumar (Presiding Member) and Mrs. Sudha Upadhyay (Member), categorically observed that it can't be said that a consumer complaint against WhatsApp won't be maintainable on the grounds that it is a foreign entity.

“यथार्थ में व्हाट्सऐप का कार्य दो व्यक्तियों के मध्य व्यक्तिगत सूचनाओं का आदान-प्रदान करना है। इस कार्य का प्रयोग करते हुए व्हाट्सऐप अपने ग्राहकों को आकर्षित करता है, इसलिए आधारभूत उद्देश्य ग्राहकों को आकर्षित करना और उनको सेवायें प्रदान करना है। अतः व्हाट्सऐप सेवाप्रदाता कम्पनी है। यह कम्पनी भारत में भी सेवायें प्रदान करती है, इसलिए यह नहीं कहा जा सकता है कि यह कम्पनी विदेशी कम्पनी है और इसके विरुद्ध उपभोक्ता परिवाद संधारणीय नहीं है। [Translation : In reality, WhatsApp's function is to facilitate the exchange of personal information between two individuals. By utilizing this function, WhatsApp attracts its customers, and therefore, its fundamental objective is to attract customers and provide them with services. Thus, WhatsApp is a service provider company. This company also provides services in India, so it cannot be said that it is a foreign company, and a consumer complaint against it is not maintainable.”]

In its three-page order, the commission also rejected the District Consumer Commission's finding that WhatsApp's user isn't its consumer and that a consumer complaint wasn't maintainable against it. The Commission observed :

"अतः जिला उपभोक्ता आयोग का यह निष्कर्ष विधि विरुद्ध है कि व्हाट्सऐप का प्रयोग करने वाला व्यक्ति व्हाट्सऐप का उपभोक्ता नहीं है और व्हाट्सऐप के विरुद्ध उपभोक्ता परिवाद संधारणीय नहीं है। अतः जिला उपभोक्ता आयोग द्वारा पारित आदेश अपास्त होने योग्य है। [Translation : Therefore, the conclusion of the District Consumer Commission that a person using WhatsApp is not a consumer of WhatsApp and that a consumer complaint against WhatsApp is not maintainable is legally incorrect. Hence, the order passed by the District Consumer Commission is liable to be set aside.]"

The commission was dealing with two appeals filed by a former IPS officer and presently Azad Adhikar Sena National President, Amitabh Thakur, challenging the orders of the District Commission, Lucknow rejecting his complaint.

Essentially, Thakur's case is that his WhatsApp services were unnecessarily interrupted for 06 hours, and thus the terms of service were violated.

In his complaint before the District Forum seeking compensation, he claimed that his work was affected during this period. However, the complaint was rejected on the ground that WhatsApp is an international company to which Thakur had not paid any consideration; hence, the consumer complaint is not admissible.

Effectively holding that a consumer complaint is maintainable against WhatsApp, the State Commission set aside the order passed by the District Consumer Commission and directed it to register the appellant's complaint as a consumer complaint and ensure that its conclusion regarding compensation is made within the 90-day period specified under the Consumer Protection Act.