WhatsApp users in India will have heard about a new rule coming into effect on October 1. But ordinary users don’t need to panic. The change is mainly related to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform to communicate with customers at scale. Personal WhatsApp users will not suddenly have to pay for sending messages to friends, family members, or other individual contacts. The big change is that businesses are charged for certain customer communication messages.
The WhatsApp Business Platform is used by companies that send large volumes of automated or customer service messages like order confirmations, delivery updates, login codes, and other notifications. Based on WhatsApp's business messaging framework, businesses can respond to customers within a 24-hour customer service window, but the pricing rules depend on the kind of message and the pricing structure of the platform as of today.
WhatsApp's official policy confirms that businesses can respond to a customer's message within a 24-hour period, while business-initiated messaging outside that window requires approved message templates and is subject to applicable charges.
According to the figures cited in the source, service and utility-type messages in India will have a base charge of ₹0.115 per delivered message, or 11.5 paise. With 18% GST, the effective amount would be roughly 13.57 paise, which can be rounded to about 14 paise per message. This is a charge paid by the business sending the message and not by the customer receiving it.
For example, if a company sends 1,000 order-confirmation/delivery-related messages at the stated base rate of ₹0.115 per message, the basic messaging cost would be ₹115. With 18% GST, the total would be about ₹135.70. The actual amount a business pays can depend on the applicable Meta pricing structure and message category.
There is also a key provision for businesses in the information given in the source. Businesses can send the first 1,000 service messages per month per business phone number free of charge, after which any other charges would apply. This means that companies sending relatively small volumes of qualifying service communications will not immediately incur high additional costs.
The change is particularly relevant to businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp for customer notifications. Order confirmations, shipping updates, delivery notifications, and similar utility communications can constitute a significant portion of automated business messaging. Businesses that send thousands or millions of such messages will therefore need to factor messaging costs into their customer-service and communication budgets.
OTP and authentication messages are another category that businesses need to monitor. Authentication messages such as login codes and one-time passwords are charged at a base rate of ₹0.115 per delivered message in India. With GST, the effective cost would be about 14 paise per message.
Promotional messages are treated differently and can cost considerably more. The source says a base rate of ₹0.8631 per delivered promotional message would work out to around ₹1.02 after 18% GST. Promotional messages can be sales announcements, offers, discounts, and other marketing messages. A company sending a lot of promotional messages can therefore have a big difference between utility and marketing message pricing.
Another important point is that these changes should not be confused with the regular WhatsApp application used by individuals. People using WhatsApp to chat with friends, relatives, or personal contacts are not asked to pay a per-message fee under this business messaging pricing change. The focus is on businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform for customer communication at scale.
Small businesses using the WhatsApp Business app should also differentiate that service from the WhatsApp Business Platform. The pricing and messaging infrastructure discussed here mainly concern the platform used for larger-scale business communication and APIs. WhatsApp's policy covers the WhatsApp Business app and Business Platform separately, and we specify some rules on the Platform.
Businesses using the platform should therefore review their messaging categories, monthly volumes, and payment arrangements before the new pricing takes effect. According to the information provided, companies have been advised to add a payment method to their account by September 30. If the required payment method is not set up, the delivery of messages that require payment could be affected starting October 1.
For customers, they are not going to be worried in the future about getting suddenly charged for WhatsApp conversations. The change is primarily a business-side pricing change. When an order is confirmed, a delivery notification, OTP, or promotional message is sent, customers don’t pay the WhatsApp messaging fee.
The change will be most visible for companies that rely on WhatsApp as a major customer service, authentication, and marketing channel. For businesses to see how often they send automated notifications and to verify if customers have signed up to receive relevant messages, they may need to think about their business messaging policy. WhatsApp’s business messaging policy also requires businesses to obtain user consent and respect requests to stop receiving communications.
With WhatsApp becoming a major communication channel for online shopping, banking, travel, food delivery, and other services, even a small per-message charge can add up when companies send messages at large scale. So businesses should know what is the appropriate category and price before October 1, and ordinary users can continue using WhatsApp for personal conversations without worrying about a per-message fee.
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