Account health
WhatsApp billing, limits and delivery errors
Why your messages are not delivering, and how to fix it in Meta Business Manager — billing setup, the 250-contact cap, and the three errors you are most likely to see.
What Meta charges for
DeelFlows does not add a markup to Meta's message fees — you pay Meta's own rate for your recipient's country. Since 1 July 2025 Meta bills per delivered template message rather than per conversation.
Three things are free, and they matter more than most businesses realise:
- Replies inside the 24-hour customer service window. When a contact messages you first, everything you send back for the next 24 hours is free.
- Utility templates sent inside that same open window.
- Every message type for 72 hours when the contact reaches you through a Click-to-WhatsApp ad or a Facebook Page button. This is the Free Entry Point window.
Set up billing so campaigns can send
If Meta has no usable payment method for your WhatsApp Business Account, template messages fail while inbound chat keeps working. That is why the account looks healthy but campaigns deliver nothing.
Complete all four steps in Meta Business Manager. Missing any one of them produces the same failure.
- Add a payment method — Business settings → Billing & payments → Payment methods. A credit card is the most reliable option for recurring charges.
- Assign it to your WhatsApp Business Account — Adding a card to your business portfolio is not enough. Open your WhatsApp Business Account and attach the payment method to it directly.
- Add your tax information — The most commonly missed step. A valid card with missing tax details still blocks sending in many countries.
- Set your timezone and currency — Both must be set on the account before Meta will bill it.
The 250-contact limit
A new WhatsApp Business Account can start conversations with 250 unique contacts in any rolling 24-hour period. This is a limit on how many different people you reach, not on how many messages you send — you can message those same 250 contacts as often as your templates allow.
Meta applies this cap to protect people from unsolicited messaging by accounts it cannot yet identify. Reach expands as your account proves both its identity and its message quality.
| Tier | Unique contacts per 24 hours | How you reach it |
|---|---|---|
| Starting tier | 250 | Every new account |
| Tier 2 | 2,000 | Verify your business, or deliver 2,000 template messages to unique contacts within 30 days at a high quality rating |
| Tier 3 | 10,000 | Automatic |
| Tier 4 | 100,000 | Automatic |
| Tier 5 | Unlimited | Automatic |
Business verification
Verification links your WhatsApp Business Account to a real, documented legal entity. It is the fastest route past the 250-contact tier, and it also unlocks display name approval and the path to a verified badge.
You will need your legal business name, address and a supporting document such as a business licence, utility bill or tax registration. Meta usually reviews within a few business days.
The errors you will see in DeelFlows
| Meta code | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| 131042 | Billing is not configured for this WhatsApp Business Account. | Complete all four billing steps above. Inbound chat and replies inside the 24-hour window continue working meanwhile. |
| 131049 | This contact has received as many marketing messages as Meta will deliver for now. | Nothing to fix. Other contacts are unaffected. Reach this person with a utility or service message, or wait for the limit to reset. |
| 130429 | Meta is temporarily throttling your throughput. | Transient. Sending resumes on its own, usually within minutes. |
Still stuck?
Send us the Meta error code shown on the failed message along with your WhatsApp Business Account ID, and we will check the account from our side.