Is WhatsApp going to charge users to use its premium features as monthly subscription?

Hyderabad: A post claiming that WhatsApp is soon going to charge users to use its premium features is doing the rounds on social media.

The post reads, "While foreign apps are charging us day to day there are Indian apps like Memechat which pays users for creating and viewing content in the form of memes. Let's support make in India!"

We found a similar post on Facebook.

This post has created a huge ruckus among WhatsApp users.

Let's find out if the claim is true.

FACT CHECK

NewsMeter performed a keyword search and found a report by The Economic Times titled "WhatsApp rolls out premium plan for business accounts" which clearly said, "WhatsApp Premium is an optional premium plan available for certain business accounts they can join by opening WhatsApp Settings."

Additionally, another Economic Times report stated, "With WhatsApp Premium, businesses will get advanced features such as a better way to be reached by customers and some improvements when linking new devices."

According to WaBetaInfo, "WhatsApp Premium is an optional premium plan available for certain business accounts that they can join by opening WhatsApp Settings."

It clarified that all current features are still free. WhatsApp Premium is only an optional plan to give some features to businesses that need certain advanced services.

The same was reported by Business Standard, NDTV, and India Today.

It is evident that the new chargeable subscription plan is optional.

Hence, the claim is misleading.