WhatsApp launches bill payments in India with 22,722 billers

MUMBAI: WhatsApp is putting a new spin on ‘message delivered’ this time, it could be your electricity bill. The messaging platform has expanded its payments offering in India with bill payments, allowing users to discover, manage and settle household and utility bills without switching apps.

Powered by the Bharat Connect network and the Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS) ecosystem, the service gives users access to 22,722 billers across 30 categories. The rollout brings a sizeable chunk of the country’s recurring payments into an app already used daily for messaging, business interactions and digital services.

The new feature covers everyday bills such as electricity, gas and water, alongside payments for FASTag, insurance, credit cards and loans. To make a payment, users can tap the ₹ icon at the top of WhatsApp’s home screen, choose a bill category and biller, confirm their account details and review the fetched amount before paying through UPI, debit card or credit card.

WhatsApp is also adding some housekeeping to the bill-paying chore. Bills are pre-fetched, while billers users have previously paid through the service appear on the Payments Home, allowing one-tap access for subsequent payments.

Users can manage multiple accounts with the same biller as well. That means bills tied to different accounts such as a home, office or family member can be handled from the same place rather than scattered across different apps.

Arun Srinivas, Managing Director and Country Head, Meta (India), said the company wanted to make bill payments as effortless as sending a message, pointing to WhatsApp’s existing role in services ranging from mobile recharges and metro-ticket bookings to insurance and government chatbots.

The move expands WhatsApp’s payments proposition beyond person-to-person transactions and into another category of recurring digital payments. Rather than building a biller network from scratch, the platform is plugging its interface into Bharat Connect, formerly known as Bharat BillPay, an interoperable network that connects consumers with participating billers across multiple categories.

The timing also reflects how India’s digital payments ecosystem is increasingly moving from individual transactions towards everyday utility. WhatsApp’s integration essentially puts bill discovery, account management and payment under one roof, while tapping into an existing infrastructure spanning thousands of billers.

The feature is being rolled out gradually across India and is expected to become available to all Android and iOS users over the coming weeks.