WhatsApp Slashes Business Messaging Prices by 63% in India to Outpace SMS and Google’s RCS

Meta’s WhatsApp has reduced business messaging prices by 16-97% in several countries, including a 63% cut in India. This move is aimed at competing with Google’s Rich Communication Services (RCS) and Apple’s upcoming messaging services. In India, WhatsApp’s new price for utility messaging is now ₹0.11 per conversation, which is cheaper than both traditional SMS (₹0.12-₹0.15) and RCS (₹0.20-₹0.25).

Lower Rates

Starting August 1, 2024, the lower rates will apply to one-time authentication, order and delivery updates, account updates, payment reminders, and feedback surveys. However, for marketing and sales messages, WhatsApp has increased the price by 8% to ₹0.78 per conversation to avoid spam. The new pricing will be effective from October 1.

Experts Analysis

Experts believe that this price cut will impact both traditional SMS and RCS, particularly in regions with high WhatsApp usage like Latin America, parts of Asia, and Africa. In India, where WhatsApp has nearly 500 million users, this change could push SMS closer to obsolescence. However, SMS still dominates 90% of India’s enterprise market in terms of volume, with 60 billion messages sent in June 2023.

Despite the price cuts, some believe that critical services like UIDAI and EPFO will continue using SMS for their reliability. The National Informatics Centre (NIC), which handles messaging for 800 state and central government departments, has also started using WhatsApp for some services, but mission-critical services remain on SMS.

The Strategu

WhatsApp’s new pricing aims to make it more attractive for businesses to use their platform for customer interactions. According to Gartner, advanced messaging channels like RCS and WhatsApp are expected to grow significantly, capturing a larger share of the market by 2028.