WhatsApp Business API · India
Your WhatsApp bill changes on 1 October.
Meta is changing how service messages are billed. Most providers add a markup on top of it. Here is what both do to your number.
Effective 1 Oct 2026
What actually changes.
Four changes, all on the same date, all from Meta rather than from your provider.
Service messages past 1,000 a month
One shared free tier of 1,000 delivered service messages per business phone number. No rollover, resets monthly.
Utility messages inside the 24-hour window
Free since July 2025. Not any more.
No volume tiers on service messages
The rate does not fall as your volume rises. Utility and authentication keep their tiers.
A payment method is required by 30 September
Without one on file, Meta stops delivering your service messages once the free 1,000 is used.
Cost calculator
What it costs you.
Put in the service conversations you handle in a month, and the markup your provider adds to Meta’s rate. If you don’t know your markup, 20% is typical in India.
Based on 9,000 billable messages at Meta's published India rate. Utility messages inside the 24-hour window are billed separately from 1 October and are not included above.
What it costs you
Opens WhatsApp with your numbers already written in. No second form.
Still free after 1 October
What stays free.
Two things are still free after 1 October, and both are worth knowing before you budget.
The first 1,000 service messages each month
Per business phone number. 1:1 and group replies draw from the same 1,000.
The 72-hour free entry point window
When someone messages you from a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook call-to-action button, your replies are free for 72 hours.
A service message can only be sent inside an open 24-hour customer service window, which reopens each time the customer messages you. Meta charges on delivery, not on send.
The markup
Where the markup comes from.
Most Indian providers
It never appears as a line item.
Meta publishes a rate. Most Indian providers invoice above it and keep the difference. You won’t find it labelled anywhere on the bill — it’s the gap between Meta’s rate card and yours, and GST is charged on it too.
BigRadar
Meta’s charge, passed through at cost.
You pay us the plan price, and Meta’s fee exactly as Meta charges it — no margin on conversations, unlimited seats on every plan. You can check it against Meta’s published rates yourself.
Invoice check
Want this checked against your actual invoice?
The number above is Meta’s rate. Your invoice is Meta’s rate plus whatever your provider adds. Send us the invoice on WhatsApp and we’ll separate the two, line by line — and tell you if you’re already on a fair rate.
Same conversation you already started. No second form.
Figures use Meta’s published WhatsApp Business Platform rate card for India in INR, effective 1 October 2026: ₹0.115 per service message, matching Meta’s utility and authentication rate for India. GST at 18% is Indian tax on the invoice, not a provider charge. Meta may update rates quarterly with one month’s notice, so check the current rate card before budgeting. Your actual invoice depends on your message mix and your provider’s terms. Markup percentages shown are illustrative — check your own invoice against Meta’s rate card.
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