Pricing · 5 min read · Savina Bansal
WhatsApp INR Billing: What to Check Before 31 December
Meta now bills Indian WhatsApp Business accounts in rupees. Who needs to switch, what the migration moves, and a 6-step checklist before the deadline.
Building the platform this article is about
Meta began billing eligible Indian WhatsApp Business accounts in rupees in January 2026. Meta says every account an eligible Indian business holds must move to rupee billing by 31 December 2026, and from 1 January 2027 it stops delivering messages from accounts still billed in another currency. The switch creates a new Messaging account behind the scenes. Ohanvi, a WhatsApp marketing platform, explains what moves, what doesn’t, and what to check first.
Why this matters to you
Amit runs a furniture brand in Jodhpur. He set up WhatsApp’s API two years ago and pays Meta in US dollars on his company card.
Every month, his bank adds a forex markup. His accountant matches a dollar invoice against a rupee ledger. GST input credit is a headache.
Rupee billing fixes most of that. But the switch is not just a setting. Meta copies your account into a brand-new Messaging account billed in rupees, and that new account becomes the one that pays for your number.
What the migration moves, and what it doesn’t
This comes from Meta’s own guide to changing billing currency.
| Copied to the new account | Stays on the old account |
|---|---|
| Templates — approved, pending, rejected, disabled, under review | Templates in outdated formats |
| WhatsApp Flows | Historical insights: messages, templates, cost and calls |
| Users and permissions | — |
| App installation | — |
Your phone numbers don’t move at all. They belong to your WhatsApp account hierarchy, which the migration does not touch — the new account simply becomes the one that pays for them.
When the migration completes, the new account becomes your billing account and the old one is retired from billing. Your old reports stay on the old account, and new data starts on the new one.
The quotable version: switching WhatsApp to rupee billing keeps your number and copies your templates, but your old analytics stay behind.
Six things to check before you switch
Who pays Meta for you. If a platform bills you for WhatsApp messages, ask them first. They may handle the migration.
Download your insights. Export delivery, read and cost reports from the old account before you start.
Clean up templates. Templates in outdated formats don’t move — re-submit any you still use. And don’t create new templates once the migration has started: Meta won’t copy them, and it locks template status and category until the migration finishes.
Have the payment method ready. A credit card can’t be attached through Meta’s migration API. It must be added by hand in Business Manager on the new account before the migration can complete.
Check you are eligible. Meta’s migration API does not cover Coexistence accounts — a number shared with the WhatsApp Business app — or Authorized Agents accounts.
Send a test message from the new account the same day.
Is 31 December the real deadline?
Yes. Meta’s own pricing updates say eligible Indian businesses must move every WhatsApp Business account to rupee billing by 31 December 2026, and that from 1 January 2027 Meta will no longer deliver messages from accounts still billed in another currency.
Don’t leave it to the last week of December. Festive campaigns will already be running then, and a failed migration in that week means failed messages.
If you’re on Ohanvi
Ohanvi bills you in rupees from one prepaid wallet, with one GST invoice. If your WhatsApp account needs to move, our team will contact you before anything changes.
See what you pay
Questions this answers
- Does Meta bill WhatsApp Business in rupees now?
- Yes. Meta introduced local billing for eligible Indian WhatsApp Business accounts in January 2026. Accounts still billed in another currency must move to rupees by 31 December 2026; from 1 January 2027 Meta stops delivering their messages.
- Will I lose my WhatsApp number or templates when I switch to INR?
- No. Your phone numbers don’t move at all — the new rupee account simply becomes the one that pays for them. Meta copies your templates, Flows, users and permissions to the new account. Templates in outdated formats are not copied, and historical analytics stay on the old account.
- How does Ohanvi bill WhatsApp charges?
- In rupees, from one prepaid wallet with one GST invoice. Every feature is on every plan, from ₹0 a month on Pay as you go; each plan’s price per WhatsApp message is published beside Meta’s own rate on the pricing page.
