WhatsApp Business API for Indian teams with students and buyers in Melbourne
Victoria has the largest India-born population of any Australian state and the most Indian students. Their messages arrive on Melbourne time, five and a half hours ahead of India until April, and their late evening is your afternoon.
Trade 1
Education
About 59,000 Indian students are in Victoria, more than in any other Australian state.
Trade 2
Trade
Victoria bought US$ 2.02 billion of goods from India in 2024, three times what it sold.
For Indian universities, admissions agents, exporters and travel firms with contacts in Melbourne: the city's two big India links, how a student's late reply reaches your inbox in the Indian afternoon, which templates suit Victoria's India-born community, and the Australian rate in rupees.
See it work
A student's 10 p.m. question, on its way to you
Melbourne's late evening falls in the Indian afternoon. Watch one reply climb from a student's phone to the counsellor who owns the file.
The time gap that makes Sydney hard works in your favour here. A Melbourne student who writes after dinner reaches your office in the middle of its afternoon, so the answer can go back before they sleep.
Each layer is something you configure once: the shared team inbox for routing and notes, and webhooks from the developer API so your admissions system sees every reply.
From a +61 3 suburb to an admissions desk in India
PayloadReply from a +61 4 mobile
Enters at the bottom, travels up through 5 layers
Hop 5 of 5: the payload is in layer 1, Counsellor in India. Answers at 16:45 IST, which is 22:15 in Melbourne, while the student is still holding the phone.
Victoria and India, in the Consulate's brief
The Consulate General of India in Melbourne serves Victoria and Tasmania; its India–Victoria brief and the Census give the picture.
About 370,000 Indians live in Victoria, and India-born residents are about 4% of the state's population, second only to Australian-born; no state has a larger India-born population.[2]
About 59,000 Indian students are studying in Victoria, the largest number in any Australian state.[2]
Victoria imported US$ 2,015.82 million of goods from India in 2024 and exported US$ 664.44 million, for total trade of US$ 2,680.26 million, up 11.25%.[2]
Air India flies Delhi–Melbourne non-stop daily, and Qantas three times a week.[2]
The 2021 Census counted 242,635 India-born people in Greater Melbourne (4.9%), and 97,684 people using Punjabi at home, the fourth most used language other than English.[1]
The Consulate registers Indian nationals who live, work or study in Victoria and Tasmania.[3]
Who messages what
Indian businesses with Melbourne on the other end
The senders the Consulate's figures point to, and their first messages to a +61 number.
| Sector | What it sends on WhatsApp |
|---|---|
| Universities and admissions agentsVictoria has more Indian students than any other state, and each application is a run of deadlines.[2] |
|
| Exporters to Victorian importersVictoria's goods imports from India rose to US$ 2.02 billion in 2024; total trade grew after the ECTA took effect in December 2022.[2] |
|
| Airlines, travel and pilgrimage operatorsDaily non-stop flights between Delhi and Melbourne carry families, students and visitors both ways.[2] |
|
| Food and consumer brandsThe Consulate counts food among Victoria's strengths and agribusiness among its links with India, so food moves between the two as orders, samples and stock questions.[2] |
|
Template languages for Melbourne
Each language version is a separate template that Meta approves on its own.
A student who writes in Punjabi or Hindi can be answered in it inside the 24-hour window; templates outside it must use an approved language version.
| Language | Meta code | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| English (Australia) | en_AU | Institutions, importers and most consumers |
| Punjabi | pa | Used at home by 97,684 people in Greater Melbourne |
| Hindi | hi | Students and families who prefer it |
| English (India) | en_IN | Parents and sponsors in India following an application |
Prices in ₹ and AUD
What a message to a Melbourne number costs
Victorian numbers are billed at the Rest of Asia Pacific line of Meta's rate card, which covers Australia: ₹7.41 for marketing, ₹0.9938 for utility, ₹0.9938 for authentication and ₹0.9938 for a service reply, in rupees before GST.
Snapshot rates · as of 20 Oct 2026, 00:02 UTC
Lite
₹999 / month≈ $15.05 AUD
₹833 / month, billed yearly≈ $12.55 AUD
Everything a growing business needs to run WhatsApp properly.
Growth
₹2,999 / month≈ $45.19 AUD
₹2,499 / month, billed yearly≈ $37.66 AUD
Lite, plus the API, automation and team scale serious senders need.
Enterprise
Custom volume pricing, custom SLA and dedicated infrastructure.
Per message to Melbourne · Rest of Asia Pacific (regional rate)
| Category | ₹ INR | AUD |
|---|---|---|
| Marketing | ₹7.4057 | $0.112 |
| Utility | ₹0.9938 | $0.0150 |
| Authentication | ₹0.9938 | $0.0150 |
| Service | ₹0.9938 | $0.0150 |
Per-message rates for all 47 markets, in ₹ and AUD
| Market | Marketing | Utility | Authentication | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | $0.0819₹5.4352 | $0.0345₹2.2874 | $0.0345₹2.2874 | $0.0345₹2.2874 |
| Bangladesh | $0.0970₹6.4397 | $0.0049₹0.3254 | $0.0049₹0.3254 | $0.0049₹0.3254 |
| Brazil | $0.0828₹5.4970 | $0.0090₹0.5981 | $0.0090₹0.5981 | $0.0090₹0.5981 |
| Chile | $0.118₹7.8162 | $0.0265₹1.7585 | $0.0265₹1.7585 | $0.0265₹1.7585 |
| Colombia | $0.0166₹1.0993 | $0.0011₹0.0706 | $0.0011₹0.0706 | $0.0011₹0.0706 |
| Egypt | $0.0853₹5.6629 | $0.0048₹0.3167 | $0.0048₹0.3167 | $0.0048₹0.3167 |
| France | $0.114₹7.5588 | $0.0398₹2.6393 | $0.0398₹2.6393 | $0.0398₹2.6393 |
| Germany | $0.181₹12.0088 | $0.0729₹4.8386 | $0.0729₹4.8386 | $0.0729₹4.8386 |
| Hong Kong | $0.0970₹6.4397 | $0.0345₹2.2867 | $0.0345₹2.2867 | $0.0345₹2.2867 |
| Hungary | $0.114₹7.5596 | $0.0463₹3.0700 | $0.0463₹3.0700 | $0.0463₹3.0700 |
| India | $0.0142₹0.9435 | $0.0029₹0.1941 | $0.0021₹0.1402 | $0.0022₹0.1450 |
| Indonesia | $0.0545₹3.6133 | $0.0331₹2.1979 | $0.0331₹2.1979 | $0.0331₹2.1979 |
| Iraq | $0.0452₹2.9992 | $0.0105₹0.6943 | $0.0105₹0.6943 | $0.0105₹0.6943 |
| Israel | $0.0468₹3.1045 | $0.0070₹0.4662 | $0.0070₹0.4662 | $0.0070₹0.4662 |
| Italy | $0.105₹6.9847 | $0.0397₹2.6369 | $0.0397₹2.6369 | $0.0397₹2.6369 |
| Kazakhstan | $0.0800₹5.3098 | $0.0238₹1.5824 | $0.0238₹1.5824 | $0.0238₹1.5824 |
| Kuwait | $0.105₹6.9671 | $0.0583₹3.8671 | $0.0583₹3.8671 | $0.0583₹3.8671 |
| Malaysia | $0.114₹7.5644 | $0.0186₹1.2314 | $0.0186₹1.2314 | $0.0186₹1.2314 |
| Mexico | $0.0526₹3.4877 | $0.0113₹0.7471 | $0.0113₹0.7471 | $0.0113₹0.7471 |
| Morocco | $0.0549₹3.6425 | $0.0305₹2.0218 | $0.0305₹2.0218 | $0.0305₹2.0218 |
| Netherlands | $0.212₹14.0494 | $0.0663₹4.3987 | $0.0663₹4.3987 | $0.0663₹4.3987 |
| Nepal | $0.0970₹6.4397 | $0.0045₹0.2990 | $0.0045₹0.2990 | $0.0045₹0.2990 |
| Nigeria | $0.0684₹4.5421 | $0.0089₹0.5898 | $0.0089₹0.5898 | $0.0089₹0.5898 |
| Oman | $0.0452₹2.9992 | $0.0327₹2.1709 | $0.0327₹2.1709 | $0.0327₹2.1709 |
| Pakistan | $0.0627₹4.1620 | $0.0199₹1.3200 | $0.0199₹1.3200 | $0.0199₹1.3200 |
| Peru | $0.0932₹6.1843 | $0.0398₹2.6392 | $0.0398₹2.6392 | $0.0398₹2.6392 |
| Poland | $0.0484₹3.2105 | $0.0161₹1.0702 | $0.0161₹1.0702 | $0.0161₹1.0702 |
| Qatar | $0.0452₹2.9992 | $0.0159₹1.0547 | $0.0159₹1.0547 | $0.0159₹1.0547 |
| Romania | $0.114₹7.5596 | $0.0383₹2.5436 | $0.0383₹2.5436 | $0.0383₹2.5436 |
| Russia | $0.106₹7.0520 | $0.0530₹3.5173 | $0.0530₹3.5173 | $0.0530₹3.5173 |
| Saudi Arabia | $0.0762₹5.0537 | $0.0142₹0.9401 | $0.0142₹0.9401 | $0.0142₹0.9401 |
| Singapore | $0.0970₹6.4397 | $0.0212₹1.4072 | $0.0212₹1.4072 | $0.0212₹1.4072 |
| South Africa | $0.0503₹3.3385 | $0.0126₹0.8369 | $0.0126₹0.8369 | $0.0126₹0.8369 |
| Spain | $0.0937₹6.2161 | $0.0265₹1.7578 | $0.0265₹1.7578 | $0.0265₹1.7578 |
| Sri Lanka | $0.0970₹6.4397 | $0.0027₹0.1759 | $0.0027₹0.1759 | $0.0027₹0.1759 |
| Turkey | $0.0144₹0.9587 | $0.0012₹0.0792 | $0.0012₹0.0792 | $0.0012₹0.0792 |
| Ukraine | $0.114₹7.5596 | $0.0394₹2.6138 | $0.0394₹2.6138 | $0.0394₹2.6138 |
| United Arab Emirates | $0.0762₹5.0537 | $0.0208₹1.3811 | $0.0208₹1.3811 | $0.0208₹1.3811 |
| United Kingdom | $0.0841₹5.5795 | $0.0292₹1.9346 | $0.0292₹1.9346 | $0.0292₹1.9346 |
| North America | $0.0331₹2.1976 | $0.0045₹0.2989 | $0.0045₹0.2989 | $0.0045₹0.2989 |
| Rest of Africa | $0.0298₹1.9796 | $0.0053₹0.3516 | $0.0053₹0.3516 | $0.0053₹0.3516 |
| Rest of Asia Pacific | $0.112₹7.4057 | $0.0150₹0.9938 | $0.0150₹0.9938 | $0.0150₹0.9938 |
| Rest of Central & Eastern Europe | $0.114₹7.5596 | $0.0280₹1.8595 | $0.0280₹1.8595 | $0.0280₹1.8595 |
| Rest of Latin America | $0.0980₹6.5048 | $0.0150₹0.9934 | $0.0150₹0.9934 | $0.0150₹0.9934 |
| Rest of Middle East | $0.0520₹3.4490 | $0.0121₹0.7998 | $0.0121₹0.7998 | $0.0121₹0.7998 |
| Rest of Western Europe | $0.0784₹5.2054 | $0.0226₹1.5019 | $0.0226₹1.5019 | $0.0226₹1.5019 |
| Other | $0.0800₹5.3098 | $0.0102₹0.6769 | $0.0102₹0.6769 | $0.0102₹0.6769 |
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. The document reminder that started the conversation above is a utility template, ₹0.9938; the same reminder to a parent's Indian number costs ₹0.19. InfiQ invoices in rupees, with GST for Indian businesses.
Work out your own monthly cost by message type.
Calculate your exact costOn InfiQ
What an Indian team uses for Melbourne
Routing and records matter most when the conversations run into the thousands.
Nearby
City pages near Melbourne
Other Australian city guides on this site, nearest first.
The Spam Act, the privacy rules and the Australian rate are national; the Australia guide covers them in full.
Guides for Melbourne teams
Questions Melbourne businesses ask
- Q1
A Melbourne student writes to us at 10 p.m. their time. Is that too late for our counsellors in India to answer?
No, it is the middle of your afternoon. 22:00 AEDT is 16:30 IST, and 22:00 AEST in the Australian winter is 17:30 IST. The student's message opens a 24-hour window, so a counsellor can reply in free form straight away.
- Q2
Victoria has Australia's largest India-born community. Can our offers to families in Melbourne be in Punjabi?
Yes, as Punjabi (pa) marketing templates sent to people who opted in to hear from you, ₹7.41 each to an Australian number. The 2021 Census counted 97,684 people using Punjabi at home in Greater Melbourne. Australia's Spam Act also applies to promotions; see the Australia guide.
- Q3
Air India flies Delhi–Melbourne daily. Can our travel desk send boarding and pickup details to Melbourne passengers?
Yes. Booking, departure and pickup messages are utility templates. A passenger on an Australian number costs ₹0.9938; one still on an Indian number costs ₹0.19, because Meta charges by the recipient's country code, not where they are.
- Q4
We export to Melbourne importers under the ECTA. Is a new price list on WhatsApp marketing?
Usually, yes. A general price list or new range invites a purchase, so it is marketing, ₹7.41, and needs the importer's opt-in. A revised price on an order they have already placed is utility, ₹0.9938.
- Q5
Our recruitment agents in Melbourne need to see the same applicant threads as our desk in India. Can they be users on the account?
Yes, if they work for you. The shared team inbox gives 10 users on Lite and 25 on Growth, with agent and manager roles, so an agent in Melbourne and a counsellor in India can work one applicant's thread with transfers and private notes.
- Q6
Our education company is incorporated in Victoria. Can it hold the InfiQ account?
InfiQ serves India-based businesses: it invoices in rupees with GST, keeps customer data in India and supports teams in English and Hindi on India time. Your Indian company can hold the account and message +61 numbers. If your business is based in Melbourne, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
Sources
Facts on this page were checked against these sources on the dates shown. Page updated 2026-10-20.
- [1]2021 Census QuickStats: Greater Melbourne · Australian Bureau of Statistics · read 2026-10-20
- [2]India - Victoria Brief · Consulate General of India, Melbourne · read 2026-10-20
- [3]Consulate General of India, Melbourne (VIC and TAS) · Consulate General of India, Melbourne · read 2026-10-20
- [4]tzdb 'australasia' file: Australia/Melbourne rules · IANA Time Zone Database · read 2026-10-20
Answer Melbourne while it is still awake
Start a 7-day Lite trial, no card needed, and send your first en_AU or Punjabi templates once Meta business verification is complete. If your business is based in Melbourne, talk to sales about whether InfiQ fits.
