In India the business WhatsApp number is often the business. It is painted on the shop board, printed on the bill and passed between relatives, so the phone that owns it ends up on the counter with three people taking turns. Customers write in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi or English, sometimes all in one chat, and in the weeks before Diwali the messages arrive faster than anyone can scroll.
This guide is about running that number as a team in an Indian business: replying in the customer's language, handling festival broadcasts and the replies they bring, keeping the catalogue useful, bringing in festive staff safely, and what it costs in rupees. For how a team inbox works in general, see the WhatsApp for teams overview.
What is different about Indian teams on WhatsApp
- One number, known everywhere. Customers will not switch to a new "support number", so the team has to work the one they already have.
- Many languages in one inbox. A Bengaluru store may get Kannada, Hindi, Tamil and English on the same morning, and staff rarely read all of them.
- Sharp seasonal peaks. Diwali, Durga Puja, Onam, Pongal, Eid and the wedding season bring broadcast campaigns out and replies flooding back.
- Temporary staff. Extra hands join for the season and leave after it, and each needs access on day one and none the day after.
- Per-seat pricing hurts. Many API platforms cap users by plan or charge per extra agent, which is exactly the cost a growing family business wants to avoid.
Replying in the customer's language
Most Indian teams handle this by passing the chat to whoever speaks the language. That breaks the moment that person is off. In Spun each chat can carry its own language settings: incoming messages can be translated into the language the agent reads ("Translate messages to"), and the agent's reply can be translated into the customer's language before it goes out ("Translate my message to"). A single message can also be translated from its menu. The languages include Hindi, Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Odia and Urdu.
Voice notes matter even more in India than text. Spun transcribes voice notes, including Hindi and other Indian languages, so an agent can read what a customer said without playing a two-minute recording at the counter.
- 1
Turn on translation for the chat
Example: a customer in Coimbatore writes in Tamil. Arjun, who reads English, opens the chat's language settings (the globe icon in the chat header), sets incoming messages to translate into English and his replies into Tamil, and answers in his own words.
- 2
Check numbers and names before sending
Machine translation handles "your order is ready" well. Prices, dates, addresses and product names deserve a second look in any language.
- 3
Keep saved replies in your top languages
Write the ten most common answers (timings, delivery charges, return policy) in English and in the two or three languages your customers use most. Saved replies are shared, so every teammate has them.
Festival broadcasts, and the replies they bring
A festival greeting with an offer is the one message most Indian businesses send to everyone. Two things go wrong: the send itself (too fast, to people who never opted in, and the number gets restricted) and the day after, when hundreds of replies land on a team that did not plan for them.
For the send, the rules are Meta's and they are covered in our India bulk-sending guide. For scale: on the official API, a marketing message to 5,000 customers costs about ₹4,316 in Meta's charges alone (₹0.8631 each on Meta's INR rate card effective July 1, 2026), before the platform fee and tax. From a team inbox on your own number there is no per-message charge, but the send has to go at a human pace to people who know you, which takes days, not minutes.
| When | What the team does |
|---|---|
| Three weeks before | Clean up labels and build the segment: customers who bought or chatted in the last year, minus anyone who said stop |
| Ten days before | Write the greeting and offer in English and your main regional language; one message, one clear offer |
| A week before | Start the paced campaign in batches; Spun paces sends with random gaps, pauses in quiet hours and handles "stop" replies |
| Every day of the campaign | Decide who covers replies from which segment; replies arrive in existing chats, so plan by label, not by rotation |
| After the festival | Remove festive staff; note which offer and language got replies for next year |
Rotation labels only new incoming chats. A reply to your broadcast from an existing customer lands in that customer's existing chat, so share the right segment label with each person instead.
Related: WhatsApp bulk message senders in India: what is allowed · WhatsApp Business API pricing in India, in rupees · How Spun paces a broadcast campaign
The catalogue: keep it on the phone, use it from the team
Indian shops use the WhatsApp Business catalogue as a menu: sarees, sweets boxes, spare parts, tiffin plans. The catalogue is managed in the WhatsApp Business app on the phone that owns the number (Business tools, then Catalogue), and that does not change when a team joins.
What changes is how the team uses it. Each catalogue item can be shared as a link from the app. Put the links to your best-selling items into saved replies, so any teammate can answer "do you have it in red?" with the right item in seconds. When a customer is ready to order, a label such as Order or Paid moves the chat along a pipeline board, so whoever handles dispatch sees it without being told.
Related: Pipeline boards for WhatsApp chats · Free WhatsApp link generator for your Instagram bio or website · Free WhatsApp QR code generator for the shop counter
Roles for an Indian family business or shop
| Person | Role and scope |
|---|---|
| Owner (holds the phone that owns the number) | Full Control: everything, including billing and the WhatsApp connection |
| Son, daughter or manager who runs the counter | Manager: labels, contacts, campaigns and auto replies, inside the filters shared |
| Counter and support staff | Team Member: reply, schedule and use AI, inside their filters |
| Delivery or dispatch coordinator | Team Member whose only filter is the Order label or the dispatch board |
| Festive temporary staff | Team Member limited to the festival segment; removed after the season |
| Accountant or CA checking a payment dispute | Viewer: read-only, no sending |
Invite by email or phone; the invitation link can be sent over your own WhatsApp and stays valid for 7 days. Removing someone ends their access at once.
Related: How to share a WhatsApp Business account with your team, safely · WhatsApp customer support for a small team: the playbook · WhatsApp Business on multiple devices, phones and users
What it costs in rupees
Spun is priced per workspace, not per person. Pro is ₹1,999 a month and Max 10x, for heavier AI use, is ₹3,999 a month, plus applicable tax. Team members are unlimited on both at no extra cost, and there are no per-message charges because nothing is sent through the API. Sharing your inbox with the team is included on every paid plan; during the free trial you can join someone else's inbox but not share your own.
API platforms popular in India price differently: a monthly plan, often with a user limit or a charge per extra agent, plus Meta's per-message charges. The rupee comparisons for the most common ones are on our India site.
Prices as listed on 25 September 2026. Prices change; verify current pricing on each pricing page before you buy.
Related: Spun pricing in India, in rupees · WATI alternatives in India · Interakt alternatives in India · AiSensy alternatives in India · Gallabox alternatives in India
Indian rules that touch a WhatsApp team
- TRAI's DLT is not for WhatsApp. DLT registration covers commercial SMS and voice calls. WhatsApp messages follow Meta's rules instead: opt-in, and approved templates for messages you start on the API.
- The DPDP Act covers what your staff can see. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and its Rules, notified in November 2025 and coming into force in phases, are about using personal data for a stated purpose with consent. Giving each person only the chats their job needs, and removing access when they leave, is a sensible habit under it.
- Opt-outs apply to festival messages too. A customer who writes "stop" should not get next year's greeting.
This is general information, not legal advice. For your obligations under the DPDP Act, speak to your own adviser.