WhatsApp Business Charges Rise As Meta Bills Service Messages – BW Businessworld

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WhatsApp Business Charges Rise As Meta Bills Service Messages
BW Online BureauOct 01, 2026
Meta has introduced charges for service messages on its WhatsApp Business Platform in India, while utility messages sent during the customer-service window will also attract fees from 1 October

Meta has changed the way businesses are charged for customer conversations on WhatsApp from 1 October, bringing service replies into its paid messaging structure. Indian businesses will get 1,000 free service messages per business phone number each month, after which Meta will charge Rs 0.115 per delivered message

New Charges For Business MessagingThe pricing change applies to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform through direct integration or solution providers. Service messages are non-template replies sent after a customer initiates a conversation, including responses handled by human agents or third-party AI systems within WhatsApp’s 24-hour customer-service window

Until 30 September, businesses were not charged for these service messages. From 1 October, each business phone number receives a monthly allowance of 1,000 service messages, with additional delivered messages charged at Rs 0.115 each in India. Meta does not provide volume-based pricing tiers for service messages

The new structure does not mean that consumers will be charged for using regular WhatsApp. Personal messages between users remain outside the WhatsApp Business Platform pricing changes

Utility Messages Also Become ChargeableThe pricing change also affects utility messages, which are generally used for transactional or account-related communication such as order confirmations, shipping notifications and delivery updates. In India, Meta’s published rate for utility messages is Rs 0.115 per delivered message. The charge applies even when a business sends such a message during the 24-hour customer-service window that opens after a user contacts the business. 

Authentication messages are also priced at Rs 0.115 per delivered message, while marketing messages are priced at Rs 0.8631 per delivered message in India. These are Meta’s published messaging rates and may be separate from taxes or fees charged by third-party solution providers used by businesses to access the platform

Payment Details Required For Continued ServiceMeta had asked businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform through direct integration or solution providers to add a payment method by 30 September. The company said businesses without a payment method on file by the deadline could be prevented from sending service messages from 1 October, when the new charges take effect

WhatsApp’s business messaging rules continue to allow businesses to respond to a user’s message without a template within 24 hours of the user’s latest message. Outside that customer-service window, businesses generally need approved message templates to initiate or continue conversations

What Changes For Indian BusinessesThe revised pricing structure adds a direct per-message cost to a category of customer interactions that was previously free. The impact will depend on how many service replies a business sends from each WhatsApp Business phone number after the 1,000-message monthly allowance is exhausted

Businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp for customer support, order-related communication and automated responses will therefore need to account for the new service-message charge alongside existing costs for utility, authentication and marketing messages

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Source: www.businessworld.in