WhatsApp Business Platform to Start Charging for Customer Replies in India from October 1

Businesses using the API must add a payment method in Meta by September 30 to avoid disruption

Ahmedabad, September 29, 2026: Indian businesses that use WhatsApp for customer support will begin paying for replies that were free until now. From October 1, 2026, Meta will charge for service messages and for utility messages sent inside the 24-hour customer window on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

What is changing

Until September 30, free-form replies sent within 24 hours of a customer’s message cost nothing, as did utility templates sent in reply inside that window. From October 1, service replies will be billed at the utility rate, which is ₹0.115 per delivered message in India. Each business phone number will get 1,000 free service messages every calendar month. The allowance resets monthly and does not roll over, and there is no volume discount on service messages after it is used up.

What stays free

Messages that customers send to businesses remain free. So does everything sent within a 72-hour free entry point window, which opens when a user messages a business through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button, provided the business replies within the first 24 hours. Meta charges only for delivered messages, so failed messages are not billed.

Existing charges

Marketing templates cost about ₹0.8631 per delivered message and utility or authentication templates ₹0.1150, unchanged from current rate cards. Meta moved from conversation-based to per-message billing in July 2025. GST at 18% is charged on top.

Who is affected

The change applies to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform (API), usually through a provider. The free WhatsApp Business app used by small shopkeepers is not covered by the announcements reviewed for this report.

What businesses should do

Businesses should add a payment method to their WhatsApp Business Account in Meta before September 30. Without one, service messages will stop being delivered once the free limit is crossed. Analysts also advise checking monthly reply volumes and cutting unnecessary message splitting in chatbot flows. A clinic handling 10,000 queries a month, with about three replies each, would have 29,000 billable messages after the free allowance.

Some providers quote slightly different per-message figures because of their own fees, so businesses should confirm rates with their provider and Meta’s official pricing page.

Sources: Meta for Developers pricing documentation and provider pricing notices.