New Delhi:

WhatsApp on Friday told the Delhi High Court it would not force users to accept its controversial new privacy policy, or limit functionality for those who have opted not to accept those terms, until the government passes the Data Protection Bill, which specifies how such data can be processed.

WhatsApp will, however, continue to display the update to users who have not accepted it, and it will remain in force for those who have, the company said.

“We voluntarily agreed to put it (the new policy) on hold… we will not compel people to accept,” senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for WhatsApp, told the court.

The court was hearing a plea by the instant messaging platform and its owner, Facebook, challenging a CCI, or Competition Commission of India, inquiry into the policy.

The CCI had issued notices to both last month, asking for more information about the policy.

In the previous hearing on June 23, the High Court refused to stay the CCI notice to WhatsApp.

The company had argued that the notices “smacked of overreach” since the information it was seeking was already pending before a different bench of the same court. It also reminded the court that related challenges were still pending before both the Supreme Court and itself.

Today Mr Salve told the court: “CCI is inquiring into a policy I (WhatsApp) have put on hold. If Parliament allows me to share data (under the Data Protection Bill) then CCI cannot say or probe anything. We have already put our updated privacy policy on hold till the bill is passed.”

The matter was adjourned after Mr Salve sought time to respond to the CCI notices.

WhatsApp’s new privacy policy was to have come into effect in early February.

However, faced with massive backlash from users concerned over potential violation of their privacy and sharing of data with Facebook (concerns that prompted the government to intervene), rollout was delayed till May 15, and then pushed back once more a week before that deadline.

At the time WhatsApp said that although a “majority of users who have received the new terms of service have accepted them”, it would not delete the accounts of those who were still holding out.

Last month the centre told the Delhi High Court that WhatsApp was trying to “force” users in to accepting the new policy before the Personal Data Protection Bill becomes the law.

It was doing so by bombarding users with daily notifications to obtain consent, the centre said.

In May the company told the government privacy of its users was the highest priority.

“We have responded to the Government of India’s letter and assured them that the privacy of users remains our highest priority,” the company said.

This was after the government ordered WhatsApp to withdraw the policy, saying the changes undermined the privacy and data security of users and harmed the rights of Indian citizens.

The IT Ministry – which has now seen a leadership change amid this row, with Ashwini Vaishnaw replacing Ravi Shankar Prasad – pointed out to WhatsApp what it said was discriminatory treatment of Indian users vis-a-vis those in Europe, who did not have to compulsorily accept the new policy.

With 500 million+ users, India is WhatsApp’s biggest market and it has big plans for the country.