Meta seeks HC stay on CCPA fine for selling walkie-talkies

NEW DELHI: Meta Platforms, earlier known as Facebook, has moved the Delhi high court seeking a stay on a Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) order. It was fined Rs 10 lakh as penalty for the alleged unauthorised sale and listing of walkie-talkies on Facebook Marketplace.Unlike Amazon and Flipkart, Facebook is not an e-commerce platform but merely a "notice board" on which CCPA has no "jurisdiction", senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Meta, argued. He contended that Facebook neither provides a mechanism for sale and purchase nor charges any commission from users. Facebook Marketplace is a free service designed exclusively for natural persons to sell or exchange goods in a personal capacity; businesses and coKmmercial sellers are not allowed to create listings, he added. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav Wednesday listed Meta's petition for hearing on March 25, asking it to explain how the order could be termed "without jurisdiction". In Jan this year, CCPA had held Meta violated the Consumer Protection Act and the Information Technology Rules by allegedly permitting walkie-talkie listings on Facebook Marketplace without mandatory disclosures.