Facebook-WhatsApp deal may face detailed scrutiny in India

NEW DELHI, Mar 9: Facebook's $19 billion deal (Rs 1,16,000 crore) to acquire WhatsApp may face a detailed scrutiny by the country's fair trade regulator CCI, especially since both players have significant presence in India. The world's largest social networking site Facebook has around 1.2 billion members globally while WhatsApp-a platform that allows exchange of messages and files through mobile phones free of cost-is estimated to have 450 million users worldwide.  All merger and acquisition deals, involving companies having India presence, have to get approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) which has the mandate to keep a tab on unfair trade practices at the market place.     — PTI