Meta Business PartnerQuick answer inside

How do I send WhatsApp messages in Hindi and regional languages?

To send WhatsApp messages in Hindi or a regional language on the Business API, you create a template in that language, submit it to Meta for approval, and send it using the matching language code. WhatsApp supports multilingual message templates, so a single logical message — say an order confirmation — can exist as separate approved versions in Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Kannada, Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi, English and more. You pick which language to send per contact. InfiQ, an official Meta Business Partner, lets you author, translate, submit and route these language variants from one place, so an Indian business can reach a Delhi customer in Hindi and a Chennai customer in Tamil without maintaining separate accounts or numbers.

On each message template, via a language code

Where language is set

Hindi + all major Indian regional languages & English

Languages supported

None — billed per delivered message by category

Cost impact of language

One number and WABA for all languages

Accounts needed

Each language version reviewed independently by Meta

Approval

Full BSUID and WABA ownership on your Meta account

Ownership

Quick answer

Build a template in the target language, submit it to Meta for approval with the correct language code (like hi for Hindi or ta for Tamil), and send. WhatsApp renders Devanagari and every Indic script natively. Character count, not language, drives billing — and WhatsApp charges per delivered message by category, so a Hindi utility message costs the same as its English equivalent.

Templates carry the language, not your account

On the WhatsApp Business API, language lives at the template level. You never switch your number, WABA or account to "Hindi mode" — instead you author each business-initiated message as a template with a specific language code, and Meta approves each language version independently. That means one message concept (an appointment reminder, a payment link, an OTP) becomes a small family of approved templates that share a name but differ by language. When you send, you reference the template name plus the language code, and WhatsApp delivers the right script. Regional scripts render natively on every WhatsApp client, so Devanagari, Tamil, Bengali or Malayalam text appears correctly on the recipient's phone with no font packs or workarounds needed.

Author the message once per language you want to support, each with its own language code
Meta reviews and approves each language variant separately — a Tamil version can be approved while a Bengali one is still pending
Send by passing the template name and the language code together, so routing stays clean
No separate number, WABA or InfiQ account is needed per language

Language codes you'll use for Indian languages

WhatsApp identifies each template language with a short code. For Indian audiences, Hindi is hi, Bengali is bn, Tamil is ta, Telugu is te, Marathi is mr, Gujarati is gu, Kannada is kn, Malayalam is ml, Punjabi is pa, Odia is or, Assamese is as and Urdu is ur. English can be either the generic en or the localized en_GB. The code must match the script you actually wrote — submitting Hindi text under an English code is a common cause of rejection or garbled delivery. If you plan to serve a customer base that spans several states, decide your priority languages up front (often Hindi plus two or three regionals), and build the same core set of templates in each so your automation logic stays symmetrical.

Match the language code to the script in the body — mismatches get rejected or render incorrectly
Keep variable placeholders ({{1}}, {{2}}) identical across language versions so one code path fills them all
Standardise on a fixed set of priority languages rather than adding them ad hoc

Getting Hindi and regional templates approved

Approval works the same in every language, but a few things trip up regional submissions. Meta rejects templates that are vague, promotional in a utility slot, or that read like generic marketing when tagged as utility. Translations must be genuine — machine output that reads awkwardly or mixes scripts (Hinglish written in Latin letters when you claimed Devanagari) invites rejection. Keep the meaning tight, put a real business reason in utility and authentication templates, and make sure your call-to-action buttons and variable samples make sense in the target language. Because each language version is reviewed on its own, a rejection in one language doesn't block the others — you fix and resubmit just that variant. In practice, well-formed Hindi and regional templates clear review as quickly as English ones.

Does sending in Hindi or a regional language cost more?

No — the language does not change the price. Since Meta moved off per-conversation billing on 1 July 2025, WhatsApp charges per delivered message, priced by category (marketing, utility, authentication). A Hindi utility message and its English twin fall in the same category and cost the same. What can differ is message length: Indic scripts are encoded in Unicode, and very long messages are split into segments, so an unusually long Hindi paragraph may occupy more characters than a terse English line. For normal template lengths this is a non-issue. The 24-hour service window (when a customer messages you first) remains free for your replies regardless of language. InfiQ shows transparent ₹ pricing (ex-GST) across categories, so you can see the cost of a Hindi campaign as clearly as an English one.

Price is set by message category, not by language — Hindi utility equals English utility
WhatsApp bills per delivered message; the free 24-hour service window still applies to your replies
Only extreme message length affects cost, via Unicode segmentation — routine templates are unaffected

Sending multilingual messages at scale with InfiQ

The operational challenge isn't writing one Hindi template — it's running dozens of language variants across broadcasts, drip flows and transactional triggers without chaos. InfiQ centralises this: you keep a template's language family together, target the right variant per contact (using a language attribute on the customer profile), and let the platform pick Hindi for one recipient and Kannada for another in the same campaign. That keeps your customer data, opt-ins and analytics unified while the message itself localises. You retain full BSUID and WABA ownership on your own Meta account, so your number, templates and audience stay yours. Pair a language field in your contact list with parallel template families, and a single broadcast can greet each customer in the language they actually read.

Do this with InfiQ

Frequently asked questions

Which Indian languages does WhatsApp Business API support?+

WhatsApp supports templates in every major Indian language, including Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, Odia, Assamese and Urdu, alongside English. Each is identified by a language code (hi, bn, ta, te, mr, gu, kn, ml, pa, or, as, ur), and all Indic scripts render natively on the recipient's phone.

Do I need a separate WhatsApp number or account for each language?+

No. Language is set on the template, not the account. You send from one number and WABA, and choose which approved language version to deliver per contact. InfiQ lets you manage all your language variants from a single account.

Does sending in Hindi cost more than English?+

No. WhatsApp bills per delivered message by category — marketing, utility or authentication — and the language has no effect on price. A Hindi utility message and its English equivalent cost the same. Only unusually long messages can cost more due to Unicode segmentation.

How do I get a Hindi or regional template approved?+

Write a genuine, well-formed translation, tag it with the correct category and language code, and submit it to Meta. Each language version is reviewed independently, so a rejection in one language doesn't affect the others. Avoid mixing scripts or passing off marketing content as utility, which are the usual rejection reasons.

Can one campaign send different languages to different people?+

Yes. If your contact profiles carry a language attribute, a single broadcast can deliver the Hindi version to Hindi-speaking contacts and, say, the Tamil version to Tamil-speaking contacts. You maintain a parallel template family per language and InfiQ routes the matching variant automatically.

Will regional scripts like Tamil or Bengali display correctly on the recipient's phone?+

Yes. WhatsApp renders all Indic scripts natively across Android and iOS, so Devanagari, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam and others appear correctly without any font packs or special setup on the recipient's device.

Can I send free-form (non-template) messages in Hindi?+

Yes, within the 24-hour service window that opens when a customer messages you first. Inside that window your replies can be free-form in any language and are free. To start a conversation or message outside the window, you need an approved template in the chosen language.

Should I translate templates myself or use machine translation?+

Use accurate, human-checked translations. Meta can reject templates whose wording reads awkwardly or mixes scripts (for example Hinglish in Latin letters submitted as Devanagari). Clean, natural regional-language copy also performs better with customers and clears review as fast as English.