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

Before you start: do you need it?

If one person answers your WhatsApp and the free app's broadcast list is enough, you may not need the API yet. Read API vs app first.

If you are reading about how to get WhatsApp Business API access, you probably need it when a team shares one number, when you message hundreds or thousands of opted-in customers, when a bot should answer after hours, or when your website should send messages by itself.

Step 1 — Choose the phone number (this is where people get stuck)

The API needs a number that can receive an SMS or a call for verification. The problem is almost always the same: the number the business wants is already on the WhatsApp app.

A number cannot be on the app and the API at the same time. You have two choices:

• Use a new number — a fresh SIM or a landline that can take a verification call. Fastest and safest.
• Move your existing number — delete the WhatsApp account on the phone first. Old chats stay on the phone; they do not move to the API.

Decide this before anything else. Everything after it is paperwork.

Step 2 and 3 — Business Manager and verification

Step 2. Create a Meta Business Manager (now called Meta Business Suite for most users) with the business's Facebook page. If you run Facebook or Instagram ads, you probably have one already.

Step 3. Start business verification in Business Manager. Meta asks for documents that show your legal business name and address. Indian businesses usually use a GST certificate, Udyam registration, or company incorporation papers, plus a website or utility bill that matches.

The name on the documents, the name in Business Manager and the name on your website should match. Most rejections at this step come from a mismatch, not from a missing document.

You can often start sending before verification finishes, with lower limits. Verification is what lets those limits grow.

Step 4 and 5 — Display name and connecting through a provider

Step 4. Choose the display name customers will see. Meta reviews it. It should clearly match your business — your shop name, not a slogan or a keyword.

Step 5. Connect through a provider. The provider creates your WhatsApp Business Account inside your Business Manager, registers the number and verifies it with the code. With us this happens on a call, in under an hour.

One thing to check here: the account should be in your Business Manager, not the provider's. Then it stays yours if you ever change provider.

Step 6 and 7 — First template, then go live

Step 6. Write your first message templates. Start with two: one utility message (an order or appointment update) and one marketing message (an offer to opted-in customers). Submit them for Meta's approval. It usually takes minutes to a day.

Step 7. Import your opted-in contacts, send the first campaign, and answer the replies in the team inbox. That is going live.

New numbers start with a small daily limit on how many new people they can message. The limit rises as you send good messages that people read and do not block. Start with your warmest list, not your biggest.

What you do not need

You do not need a developer, unless your own software should send messages. You do not need the green tick to start — see how verification works. You do not need a registered company; a proprietorship with a GST or Udyam certificate usually works.

And you do not need to pay a setup fee. With us, account setup, number registration, display name and the first templates are part of going live.

What the platform will not do for you

It will not skip Meta's rules. Marketing goes only to people who opted in. It will not give unlimited messages on day one, or any day. It will not move old chats from the app. It does not include an AI bot, SMS or a CRM, and there is no free trial.

What it does is make the seven steps short. Message us with the number you want to use and your business documents, and we will tell you on the first call which step you will be stuck on — before you get there. Plans start at ₹790 per month; details on the pricing page.