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Dubai · Updated 2026-10-20

WhatsApp Business API for Indian businesses with customers in Dubai

In Dubai the first question is not what to send but whose number it is: a +971 line, or the +91 a customer kept from home.

About 4.3 million Indians live in the UAE, and a Dubai customer may write from a +971 number or from the +91 they brought from home. The number decides the rate; Gulf time decides when to send.

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Emirate
Dubai
Country
United Arab Emirates
Indians in the UAE
About 4.3 million, the largest expatriate community[1]
India–UAE trade
US$101.25 billion in FY2025-26[1]
Visitors
19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025[2]
Clock
Gulf Standard Time, 90 minutes behind India

For India-based businesses with travellers, buyers or NRI customers in Dubai: which rate applies when a customer uses a +971 number or the +91 one they kept, when to send on Gulf time, which template languages to use, and what each message costs in rupees.

See it work

Which number, which rate, which rule

Answer two or three questions about one message to one Dubai customer. The tree ends at the rate Meta applies and what you need before you send.

The +91 branch is the one senders to Dubai miss. A customer who moved from India may still use the number they had at home, and a broadcast list built from an Indian CRM can hold both kinds side by side. Store each number exactly as the customer gave it and let the country code decide the rate.

InfiQ publishes its rate for both markets in rupees, so a mixed list can be costed before it is sent. The UAE guide covers the data and telemarketing rules for the whole country.

One message to a Dubai customer

Question 1 · up to 3

Which WhatsApp number did your Dubai customer give you?

Your answers

None yet — pick an answer to start down the tree.

Path map

Depth 0 of up to 3. Circles are questions, squares are outcomes.

All possible outcomes (5)

  • Utility template at the UAE rate

    Send it when the event happens. A +971 number is billed on the United Arab Emirates line of Meta's rate card.

    Path: “A +971 UAE number” → “A booking or order update they expect”

  • Marketing template at the UAE rate

    Send inside Dubai's working day with a way to opt out. The UAE guide explains what the 2024 telemarketing rules do and do not settle for WhatsApp.

    Path: “A +971 UAE number” → “An offer, a launch or a sale” → “Yes, with source and time”

  • Ask for opt-in first

    Meta's policy requires the person's opt-in before a business messages them. Ask on your next booking form or at checkout, and record it.

    Path: “A +971 UAE number” → “An offer, a launch or a sale” → “No, or not sure”

  • Billed at the India rate

    The phone is in Dubai but the price follows the +91 code. An offer still needs their opt-in, and it still lands on Gulf time.

    Path: “The Indian +91 number they kept from home” → “An update or an offer”

  • Free-form service reply

    Inside the 24-hour window after they write, your team replies without a template, charged per message at the rate of the number's country.

    Path: “A +971 UAE number” → “An answer to a message they sent today”

Meta prices each message by the recipient's country calling code, not by where the phone is. A customer in Dubai on a +91 number is billed at the India rate; one on a +971 number at the UAE rate.

Question 1: Which WhatsApp number did your Dubai customer give you? 2 options.

Dubai and India, in official figures

From the Consulate General of India in Dubai, the Government of Dubai Media Office and Meta's own pricing documentation.

Meta charges each message by the recipient's country calling code, which it calls the market, so the same Dubai customer costs a different amount on a +971 number and on a +91 one.[4]

The Consulate General of India in Dubai puts the Indian diaspora in the UAE at about 4.3 million, the country's largest expatriate community.[1]

India–UAE trade reached US$101.25 billion in FY2025-26, its highest level, with Indian exports above US$37.35 billion. The UAE is India's third-largest trading partner and second-largest export destination.[1]

In January 2026 the two countries agreed to aim for US$200 billion of bilateral trade by 2032. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was signed in February 2022.[1]

The Reserve Bank of India and the Central Bank of the UAE signed an MoU on local-currency settlement in July 2023, and work to link UPI with the UAE's AANI platform is under way.[1]

Dubai received 19.59 million international overnight visitors in 2025, up 5% on 2024; South Asia supplied 2.89 million of them, 15% of the total.[2]

Hotel occupancy averaged 80.7% in 2025, and the emirate had 154,264 rooms in 827 establishments at the end of December.[2]

The Dubai International Financial Centre ended 2025 with 8,844 active registered companies, 1,052 regulated financial firms and a workforce of 50,200.[3]

Who writes to Dubai from India

Four kinds of Indian business with a reason to message the emirate every day.

Travel firms and hotel partners

19.59 million international overnight visitors and 154,264 hotel rooms: the confirmations, transfers and tour times Indian travel firms send.[2]

  • Booking and voucher confirmation
  • Airport transfer details
  • Tour pickup times

Exporters and traders

The UAE is India's second-largest export destination, and Dubai buyers ordering from Indian suppliers need dispatch and document updates.[1]

  • Proforma and order confirmation
  • Dispatch and shipping-document notices
  • Payment received receipts

Service firms with DIFC clients

DIFC counted more than 500 wealth and asset management entities among its 8,844 active companies at the end of 2025.[3]

  • Meeting scheduling across IST and Gulf time
  • Onboarding document requests
  • Report-ready notices

Banks, insurers and developers serving NRIs

About 4.3 million Indians live in the UAE, and the institutions they bank, insure and invest with in India write to them there.[1]

  • KYC document requests
  • EMI and premium reminders
  • Site-visit and video-call booking

Arabic and English, one template each

Meta approves each language version separately, so a Dubai programme plans its pairs before the first submission.

Record the language each contact chose when they opted in, so a broadcast goes out in the right version.

Inside the 24-hour window after a customer writes, replies need no template, and your agents can answer in whatever language the customer used. InfiQ's own support team works in English and Hindi.

Meta template languages relevant to Dubai
LanguageMeta codeUse it for
Arabic (UAE)ar_AEEmirati and Arabic-speaking customers; right-to-left
ArabicarWhen one Arabic version serves Dubai and other Gulf markets
English (UAE)en_AEExpatriate, visitor and business audiences in the emirate

Prices in ₹ and AED

What a message to Dubai costs, by number

A +971 number is billed on the United Arab Emirates line of Meta's rate card: ₹5.05 for marketing, ₹1.38 for utility, ₹1.38 for authentication and ₹1.38 for a service reply, in rupees before GST. A Dubai customer on a +91 number is billed at the India rate.

Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC

Lite

₹999 / month≈ AED 38.60 AED

₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ AED 32.18 AED

Everything a growing business needs to run WhatsApp properly.

Growth

₹2,999 / month≈ AED 115.87 AED

₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ AED 96.55 AED

Lite, plus the API, automation and team scale serious senders need.

Enterprise

Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.

Per message to Dubai · United Arab Emirates

InfiQ per-message rates for Dubai in rupees and AED
Category₹ INRAED
Marketing₹5.0537AED 0.195
Utility₹1.3811AED 0.0534
Authentication₹1.3811AED 0.0534
Service₹1.3811AED 0.0534
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and AED
Per-message rates by market, effective 1 October 2026
MarketMarketingUtilityAuthenticationService
ArgentinaAED 0.210₹5.4352AED 0.0884₹2.2874AED 0.0884₹2.2874AED 0.0884₹2.2874
BangladeshAED 0.249₹6.4397AED 0.0126₹0.3254AED 0.0126₹0.3254AED 0.0126₹0.3254
BrazilAED 0.212₹5.4970AED 0.0231₹0.5981AED 0.0231₹0.5981AED 0.0231₹0.5981
ChileAED 0.302₹7.8162AED 0.0679₹1.7585AED 0.0679₹1.7585AED 0.0679₹1.7585
ColombiaAED 0.0425₹1.0993AED 0.0027₹0.0706AED 0.0027₹0.0706AED 0.0027₹0.0706
EgyptAED 0.219₹5.6629AED 0.0122₹0.3167AED 0.0122₹0.3167AED 0.0122₹0.3167
FranceAED 0.292₹7.5588AED 0.102₹2.6393AED 0.102₹2.6393AED 0.102₹2.6393
GermanyAED 0.464₹12.0088AED 0.187₹4.8386AED 0.187₹4.8386AED 0.187₹4.8386
Hong KongAED 0.249₹6.4397AED 0.0883₹2.2867AED 0.0883₹2.2867AED 0.0883₹2.2867
HungaryAED 0.292₹7.5596AED 0.119₹3.0700AED 0.119₹3.0700AED 0.119₹3.0700
IndiaAED 0.0365₹0.9435AED 0.0075₹0.1941AED 0.0054₹0.1402AED 0.0056₹0.1450
IndonesiaAED 0.140₹3.6133AED 0.0849₹2.1979AED 0.0849₹2.1979AED 0.0849₹2.1979
IraqAED 0.116₹2.9992AED 0.0268₹0.6943AED 0.0268₹0.6943AED 0.0268₹0.6943
IsraelAED 0.120₹3.1045AED 0.0180₹0.4662AED 0.0180₹0.4662AED 0.0180₹0.4662
ItalyAED 0.270₹6.9847AED 0.102₹2.6369AED 0.102₹2.6369AED 0.102₹2.6369
KazakhstanAED 0.205₹5.3098AED 0.0611₹1.5824AED 0.0611₹1.5824AED 0.0611₹1.5824
KuwaitAED 0.269₹6.9671AED 0.149₹3.8671AED 0.149₹3.8671AED 0.149₹3.8671
MalaysiaAED 0.292₹7.5644AED 0.0476₹1.2314AED 0.0476₹1.2314AED 0.0476₹1.2314
MexicoAED 0.135₹3.4877AED 0.0289₹0.7471AED 0.0289₹0.7471AED 0.0289₹0.7471
MoroccoAED 0.141₹3.6425AED 0.0781₹2.0218AED 0.0781₹2.0218AED 0.0781₹2.0218
NetherlandsAED 0.543₹14.0494AED 0.170₹4.3987AED 0.170₹4.3987AED 0.170₹4.3987
NepalAED 0.249₹6.4397AED 0.0116₹0.2990AED 0.0116₹0.2990AED 0.0116₹0.2990
NigeriaAED 0.175₹4.5421AED 0.0228₹0.5898AED 0.0228₹0.5898AED 0.0228₹0.5898
OmanAED 0.116₹2.9992AED 0.0839₹2.1709AED 0.0839₹2.1709AED 0.0839₹2.1709
PakistanAED 0.161₹4.1620AED 0.0510₹1.3200AED 0.0510₹1.3200AED 0.0510₹1.3200
PeruAED 0.239₹6.1843AED 0.102₹2.6392AED 0.102₹2.6392AED 0.102₹2.6392
PolandAED 0.124₹3.2105AED 0.0413₹1.0702AED 0.0413₹1.0702AED 0.0413₹1.0702
QatarAED 0.116₹2.9992AED 0.0407₹1.0547AED 0.0407₹1.0547AED 0.0407₹1.0547
RomaniaAED 0.292₹7.5596AED 0.0983₹2.5436AED 0.0983₹2.5436AED 0.0983₹2.5436
RussiaAED 0.272₹7.0520AED 0.136₹3.5173AED 0.136₹3.5173AED 0.136₹3.5173
Saudi ArabiaAED 0.195₹5.0537AED 0.0363₹0.9401AED 0.0363₹0.9401AED 0.0363₹0.9401
SingaporeAED 0.249₹6.4397AED 0.0544₹1.4072AED 0.0544₹1.4072AED 0.0544₹1.4072
South AfricaAED 0.129₹3.3385AED 0.0323₹0.8369AED 0.0323₹0.8369AED 0.0323₹0.8369
SpainAED 0.240₹6.2161AED 0.0679₹1.7578AED 0.0679₹1.7578AED 0.0679₹1.7578
Sri LankaAED 0.249₹6.4397AED 0.0068₹0.1759AED 0.0068₹0.1759AED 0.0068₹0.1759
TurkeyAED 0.0370₹0.9587AED 0.0031₹0.0792AED 0.0031₹0.0792AED 0.0031₹0.0792
UkraineAED 0.292₹7.5596AED 0.101₹2.6138AED 0.101₹2.6138AED 0.101₹2.6138
United Arab EmiratesAED 0.195₹5.0537AED 0.0534₹1.3811AED 0.0534₹1.3811AED 0.0534₹1.3811
United KingdomAED 0.216₹5.5795AED 0.0747₹1.9346AED 0.0747₹1.9346AED 0.0747₹1.9346
North AmericaAED 0.0849₹2.1976AED 0.0115₹0.2989AED 0.0115₹0.2989AED 0.0115₹0.2989
Rest of AfricaAED 0.0765₹1.9796AED 0.0136₹0.3516AED 0.0136₹0.3516AED 0.0136₹0.3516
Rest of Asia PacificAED 0.286₹7.4057AED 0.0384₹0.9938AED 0.0384₹0.9938AED 0.0384₹0.9938
Rest of Central & Eastern EuropeAED 0.292₹7.5596AED 0.0718₹1.8595AED 0.0718₹1.8595AED 0.0718₹1.8595
Rest of Latin AmericaAED 0.251₹6.5048AED 0.0384₹0.9934AED 0.0384₹0.9934AED 0.0384₹0.9934
Rest of Middle EastAED 0.133₹3.4490AED 0.0309₹0.7998AED 0.0309₹0.7998AED 0.0309₹0.7998
Rest of Western EuropeAED 0.201₹5.2054AED 0.0580₹1.5019AED 0.0580₹1.5019AED 0.0580₹1.5019
OtherAED 0.205₹5.3098AED 0.0262₹0.6769AED 0.0262₹0.6769AED 0.0262₹0.6769
Currency converter

AED 38.60 AED

Indicative conversion at reference rates (ExchangeRate-API snapshot). InfiQ sets and invoices prices in Indian rupees, excluding GST; your bank’s rate on the day you pay will differ. Rates By Exchange Rate API.

Plan prices are monthly, in rupees, excluding GST; yearly billing is two months free. Messages are charged per delivered message on top of the plan, at the rate for the recipient’s country. Full details: InfiQ pricing. A list that mixes +971 and +91 numbers is costed line by line: each +91 contact at the India rate, ₹0.94 for a marketing message. Dirham figures in the converter are indicative; invoices are in rupees.

Work out your own monthly cost by message type.

Calculate your exact cost

On InfiQ

What an Indian team uses to write to Dubai

The parts of InfiQ that matter for a mixed +971 and +91 audience.

Published per-market rates

InfiQ publishes its per-message rate for every Meta market in rupees, ex-GST, so the cost of messaging customers abroad is known before you send.

The UAE and India rates are both published in rupees, so a list that mixes +971 and +91 numbers can be costed before the send.

Learn more

Nearby

Other city guides in the UAE

UAE city pages on this site, nearest first.

The PDPL, the telemarketing resolution and the free zones are national or emirate-wide questions; the UAE guide covers them.

Guides for Dubai teams

Questions Dubai businesses ask

Many of our customers in Dubai still use their Indian +91 numbers. Which rate do we pay for them?
The India rate. Meta prices each message by the recipient's country calling code, not by where the phone is, so a +91 number in Dubai is billed like any Indian number: a marketing message is ₹0.94, against ₹5.05 to a +971 number. Store each number exactly as the customer gave it.
Is a Dubai Shopping Festival offer to past buyers a marketing template?
Yes. Anything promoting a sale or a launch is marketing, and it goes only to people who opted in to offers from you on WhatsApp, with a way to opt out. To a +971 number it costs ₹5.05. The UAE guide explains what the 2024 telemarketing rules may mean for timing.
Our travellers land at DXB late at night. Can their transfer details reach them on arrival?
Yes, if they opted in when they booked. Transfer and hotel details are utility templates, sent when your system knows the flight has landed, at the rate of the traveller's number: ₹1.38 to a +971 number, the India rate to a +91 one. Follow-up questions are answered in the 24-hour window.
Guests at our Bur Dubai hotel partners write in Arabic, English and Hindi. Which languages can the templates use?
Submit Arabic (UAE) and English (UAE) versions, ar_AE and en_AE, each approved separately by Meta, and send each guest the version they chose. Inside the 24-hour window after a guest writes, your agents can reply in Hindi or in any language the guest used, without a template.
Dubai is 90 minutes behind India. When should a broadcast leave our Indian office?
Schedule it by Gulf time. 09:00 in Dubai is 10:30 in India and 18:00 is 19:30, and the UAE does not use daylight saving, so the gap never moves. Updates a customer is waiting for, such as a booking confirmation, go when the event happens.
We sell to wealth managers in DIFC. Does the free zone change how we may message them?
It can change the data rules. DIFC is a free zone with its own laws, and the UAE guide sets out how its data rules sit beside the federal law, so check which applies to the data you hold. Meta's opt-in rule applies either way: a DIFC contact still needs to have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp.
Our Dubai trading company has a sister firm in Mumbai. Which one should hold the InfiQ account?
Usually the Mumbai firm. InfiQ is built for India-based businesses, invoicing in rupees with GST against an Indian GSTIN and hosting customer data in India, and from that account the Mumbai firm can reach +971 numbers at the UAE rate. A trading company based in Dubai that wants its own account should talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
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Sources

Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. Page updated 2026-10-20.

  1. [1]Overview of India-UAE Commercial Relations · Consulate General of India, Dubai · read 2026-10-20
  2. [2]Dubai's tourism industry achieves third successive record-breaking year (9 February 2026) · Government of Dubai Media Office · read 2026-10-20
  3. [3]Dubai International Financial Centre announces landmark annual results for 2025 (5 February 2026) · Government of Dubai Media Office · read 2026-10-20
  4. [4]Pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform · Meta for Developers · read 2026-10-20

Send to Dubai from India on the official API

Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, and submit your Arabic and English templates once Meta verification is complete. If your business is based in Dubai, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.

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