The CCI (Competition Commission of India) is reportedly reviewing the $5.7 billion investment made by Facebook, a social networking company, in Reliance Jio Platforms. This investment was made with an aim to enable the social networking service to make inroads into several shops in India.
Sources familiar with the matter have stated that the Indian antitrust watchdog has declined to give detailed information about the recent examination. However, it is assessing every deal that involves situations such as misusing the data of users. It also plans to modify the rule for a few mergers and acquisitions deals signed in the country. Sources further added that the agreement could help expand Facebook’s services in India, which is the largest market for the company in terms of user count.
There are around 350 million users of Facebook in India, in addition to nearly 400 million users of WhatsApp, its messaging service. WhatsApp is considered as one of the most popular services in the 2nd largest market, India.
Facebook reportedly stated that the recent deal signed with Reliance Jio would help enhance the vision of digital India as well as provide other benefits to consumers, kirana stores, and other micro & small local Indian businesses. As per the deal, which was announced in April, the company planned to empower around 60 million small businesses such as mom-and-pop stores in the region.
Following the signing of the deal, the service has enabled JioMart, a joint venture formed by Reliance Retail and Reliance Jio, to allow customers to track their shipment via WhatsApp. Facebook has been under review by regulatory bodies to ensure the nationwide rollout of its service, WhatsApp Pay. This new service has been launched in a beta mode to multiple users in India in 2018, months after the technology giant, Google, launched its payment service in the country. However, Google & Walmart’s PhonePe have been holding a dominant position in the Indian mobile payments market.
Facebook is planning to launch WhatsApp Pay in other nations as well, in addition to its recent launch in Brazil.
Source credit: