How to Get the WhatsApp Business API in India: Step by Step

Before you start

• A Meta Business account, ideally verified with your business documents.
• A phone number that is not currently registered on the regular WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app, or one you are ready to migrate.
• A website or social page that shows your business name, so display-name approval goes smoothly.

The steps

1. Choose a provider. You can connect through a Business Solution Provider, or use a ready panel such as UnboxChat that already sits on the official Cloud API.
2. Create or connect your Meta Business account and add the number.
3. Verify the number with the code Meta sends, and set your display name.
4. Write message templates for anything you send outside a customer conversation, and submit them for approval.
5. Set up opt-in: customers must agree before you message them. A checkbox on a form or a message they start is enough if it is clear.
6. Connect your tools: inbox for the team, CRM, ERP or billing system that should trigger messages.
7. Test with your own team, then go live in stages.

What it costs

Costs have two parts: what the provider charges for the platform, and what Meta charges for messages. Meta prices by message category, such as marketing, utility and authentication, and changes its rate card from time to time, so check the current Meta pricing page rather than trusting an old article, including ours.

Mistakes we see

• Messaging people who never opted in, which leads to blocks and a lower quality rating.
• Writing templates that read like adverts when they are meant to be updates.
• Using one number for everything and letting the team reply from personal phones as well.
• Skipping the privacy policy link, which reviewers sometimes ask for.