If your business encounters the "130497: Business Account Restricted from Messaging Users in This Country" error, it means WhatsApp has restricted your messaging activities in certain regions. This restriction often stems from the promotion of regulated or restricted goods and services that WhatsApp prohibits or limits based on their policies.
Why Does This Error Occur?
WhatsApp prohibits businesses from promoting specific goods and services globally, even if those goods are legal in certain regions. Additionally, messaging for some regulated items is only permitted in specific countries where local laws allow such practices.
Restricted Categories Include:
Firearms, hazardous materials, and wildlife
Alcohol, tobacco, and drugs (including prescription and over-the-counter drugs)
Medical and healthcare products
Real money gambling, online gaming, and binary options
Adult products and services
Multi-level marketing, payday loans, and debt collection
Exceptions for Regulated Verticals
In some cases, messaging for restricted goods or services is allowed but only in specific countries where such promotions comply with local laws and WhatsApp policies.
Examples of Allowed Countries:
1. Online Gambling and Gaming: Allowed in Australia, India (state-specific restrictions), Japan, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.
Organizations using WhatsApp Business messaging to promote online gambling and gaming must ensure compliance with all relevant local laws, industry codes, guidelines, and licensing requirements. Additionally, they must adhere to age and country-specific restrictions as per applicable regulations. Messaging must not be sent to individuals under the age of 18.
To promote online gambling and gaming (a category of real-money gambling and gaming), businesses must:
Obtain Approval from Meta: Submit a request through the designated application form. Note that approval is restricted to specific countries listed by Meta Platforms, Inc.
Provide Proof of Legitimacy: Demonstrate that the gambling or gaming activities are appropriately licensed by a regulator or legally sanctioned in the targeted country.
2. Over-the-Counter Drugs: Permitted in a wide range of countries - American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Suriname, Thailand, The Bahamas, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Vietnam.
3. Alcohol: Allowed in regions — American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Jamaica, Japan, Kiribati, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mexico, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, St. Lucia, Suriname, The Bahamas, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uruguay, US Virgin Islands, Vanuatu, Venezuela and Vietnam.
For more details, visit the WhatsApp Business Policy page.
For more insights on WhatsApp Business API, check out our other blogs at heltar.com/blogs.
