WhatsApp Business per-message charges start today; first 1,000 replies free
From October 1, Meta charges WhatsApp Business Platform users for service messages after 1,000 free per month; in India the rate is Rs 0.115 per message, and accounts with no payment method on file face stopped delivery.
Meta’s new WhatsApp Business pricing takes effect today: businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform will now pay per message for service replies once they exhaust a free monthly allowance of 1,000 service messages per phone number, according to the Times of India.
Service messages — non-template replies sent by human agents or third-party AI systems in an open 24-hour customer-service window — had been free since November 1, 2024. From today they are billed at each market’s utility-message rate: in India that is Rs 0.115 per message before GST, or about Rs 0.136 including 18% GST, per Lokmat Times. Utility template messages sent within the 24-hour window, free since July 1, 2025, also become chargeable today, and do not count towards the 1,000-message free allowance.
Accounts face an enforcement deadline too. Meta told Solution Providers and directly-integrated businesses that “for any Solution Provider or directly-integrated businesses that does not have a payment method on file by September 30, 2026, Meta will stop delivering service messages as of when they become charged on October 1, 2026.”
The charges apply only to businesses on the Platform/API — personal WhatsApp chats remain free, and small businesses using the free WhatsApp Business app on a phone are outside the new fee. Separately, Meta’s own Business Agent replies continue under token-based pricing introduced August 1.
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