Why do WhatsApp's business policies matter?
WhatsApp is a personal channel, and Meta protects it. Businesses on the WhatsApp Business Platform must follow Meta's Business and Commerce policies. Ignoring them leads to blocked messages, lower quality ratings and messaging limits, and in serious cases a restricted or banned number. This guide summarises the practical points; always read Meta's current policies, which change from time to time. This isn't legal advice.
What counts as valid opt-in?
Before you send business-initiated messages, the person must have agreed to receive messages from your business on WhatsApp. Good practice:
- Make it clear the person is opting in to WhatsApp messages from your business.
- Say what kind of messages they'll get (order updates, reminders, offers).
- Collect it through a clear action: a checkbox on a form, a click-to-chat entry, a message they send you.
- Record when and how you got it.
- Make opting out easy, and honour it promptly.
A phone number in your database is not opt-in.
What is the 24-hour customer service window?
When a customer messages you, a 24-hour window opens in which you can reply with free-form messages. Outside that window, you can only start a conversation with a pre-approved template. Since October 2026, replies inside the window are also charged after the free monthly allowance; see our pricing explainer.
How does template approval work?
Templates are submitted to Meta in a category: marketing, utility or authentication. Tips:
- Choose the right category. Promotional content in a utility template gets rejected or recategorised.
- Use clear variables, for example the customer name and order number.
- Avoid vague, spammy or misleading wording.
- Include an opt-out option for marketing templates.
What are quality ratings and messaging limits?
Meta tracks how recipients react to your messages, including blocks and reports. Low quality can restrict how many people you can message. Protect it by:
- Messaging only people who opted in
- Sending relevant, expected messages and not over-broadcasting
- Making replies helpful, with a quick route to a person
How does this connect to India's data protection law?
Opt-in for WhatsApp messaging and consent under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act overlap but aren't identical. Read our DPDP basics for AI chatbots.
How do we apply this in client work?
Everything on this page feeds into how we run pilots. We start with a consultation to understand the process and the people involved, then write a one-page scope: the trigger, inputs, steps, outputs, a success measure and a stop rule that says what the agent may do alone, what needs approval and when it must hand over. We build inside the tools you already use, test on real or realistic cases including awkward ones, and review the results with your team before anyone talks about expanding.
We keep a few habits on every project: we never publish invented results, we label examples as illustrations, we list third-party costs separately, and we say so plainly when something isn't worth automating yet. If that sounds like the kind of partner you want, read the pilot process or message us on WhatsApp.
What should you prepare before talking to us?
You don't need a technical brief. A useful first conversation needs only a few things, and gathering them is valuable even if you never work with us:
- The process in plain words: what triggers it, who does what, and where it usually goes wrong.
- Rough volumes: how many messages, orders, tickets or invoices per week. A one-week tally is enough.
- Your tools: WhatsApp app or API, CRM, sheets, accounting or helpdesk software, including versions or plans where you know them.
- Three real examples: typical messages or cases, plus one awkward one, with personal details removed.
- What must never happen: the mistakes that would hurt most. These become the first lines of your stop rule.
- An owner: the person who will review the workflow once it runs.
Send these on WhatsApp or by email, or run the pilot scorecard first.
How does a pilot with us work?
Every engagement follows the same four steps. Consult: you walk us through the process, the tools and where it breaks. Pick the pilot: we choose one workflow and write down its inputs, outputs, tools, stop rule and success measure. Ship: we build it into the tools you already use and test it on real cases. Review: your team checks what the agent did and what it escalated, then decides whether to tune it, expand it or stop. Read the full pilot process.