How Much Does India Have To Pay For WhatsApp Messages From October 1?

Meta will start charging businesses for service messages on the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, after a free monthly allowance. Ordinary users chatting with friends and family will not pay anything.

Who pays, and who doesn't?

Meta charges for messages from businesses to WhatsApp users only, and only when a message is delivered rather than merely sent. The changes apply to companies using the Business Platform, the API that firms and their software partners use to run support chats and alerts. Personal messaging is not part of this pricing.

What changes on October 1?

Meta will charge per message for all service messages, the free-form replies businesses send inside an open 24-hour customer service window. Utility messages sent in response to users within that window will also become chargeable.

How much will it cost in India?

Meta's rate card for India lists Rs. 0.8631 per marketing message, Rs. 0.115 per utility message and Rs. 0.115 per authentication message. Authentication-international messages, which are OTPs sent to Indian numbers from an eligible business based abroad, cost Rs. 2.4971. Service messages will be billed at the same rate as utility and authentication messages, so Rs. 0.115 each from October 1. Meta will not offer volume discounts on service messages.

Each business phone number gets 1,000 free service messages a month. Unused messages do not carry over. The allowance applies per number, so a company running several numbers gets it on each.

That works out to about Rs. 115 per 1,000 messages beyond the free tier. A business sending 5,000 replies a month from one number would pay for 4,000, or Rs. 460. A busy support bot sending 50,000 replies would pay for 49,000, or Rs. 5,635. GST is charged on top, and providers cite 18 percent. Firms using a third-party platform may also pay that provider's fees.

Payment method needed

Businesses, or the solution providers they use, without a payment method on file by September 30 will stop having service messages delivered once charging begins on October 1.

What stays the same

Messages sent within 72 hours of a customer contacting a business through a click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook page button remain free. Marketing, utility and authentication rates for India are unchanged on October 1, according to providers tracking Meta's rate card.