New Delhi, Oct 1(APAC Media): Meta has changed how businesses pay for WhatsApp messages in India from October 1.
The new WhatsApp Business pricing structure ends free service messaging after a monthly limit and introduces charges for utility messages sent during an open 24-hour customer service window.
Under the new pricing, businesses in India will receive 1,000 free service messages per phone number every month. After that, Meta will charge ₹0.115 for each additional service message.
Service messages are non-template replies sent by customer support teams or AI systems after a customer starts a conversation. Businesses can continue sending these replies without templates while the 24-hour customer service window remains open.
The bigger change is for utility messages.
Utility messages such as order confirmations, shipping updates and account-related alerts will now cost ₹0.115 per delivered message in India, even when they are sent during the 24-hour service window. Authentication messages will also carry the same ₹0.115 rate.
Marketing messages remain priced at ₹0.8631 per delivered message in India. Meta’s published rates do not include applicable taxes or charges from third-party solution providers.
Businesses also need to keep a payment method linked to their WhatsApp Business Platform account. Meta has said it will stop delivering service messages to businesses without a payment method once the new pricing takes effect.
Messages can still remain free when customers start a WhatsApp conversation by clicking a business advertisement on WhatsApp. However, conversations handled by Meta Business Agent can attract a separate AI usage charge.
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