1 Category Mismatch (Promotional Words in Utility Category)
Meta charges ~₹0.115 for Utility messages versus ~₹0.7846 for Marketing in India. As a result, businesses often try to submit promotional offers under the cheaper Utility category. Meta's NLP scanner flags words like "discount", "offer", "exclusive", "save", "free", "festive", "deal", "limited time" and automatically rejects or recategorizes the template.
How to Fix: If the message contains any call-to-action to buy or explore offers, submit it under Marketing. Reserve Utility strictly for transaction-triggered events (Order Confirmed, Appointment Rescheduled, Payment Received).
2 Generic or Third-Party URL Shorteners
Using generic link shorteners like bit.ly, tinyurl.com, or cutt.ly results in an immediate, automated rejection. Meta requires that users be able to verify destination hostnames before clicking.
How to Fix: Use full URLs with your verified domain (e.g. https://nydigital.co.in/orders/{{1}}) or build custom short links on your own branded sub-domain.
3 Floating Variables Without Context
Submitting templates with "floating variables" (variables at the very beginning, very end, or consecutively without descriptive surrounding text) violates Meta guidelines. For example: Hello {{1}}, {{2}} {{3}}. Tap here {{4}}.
How to Fix: Ensure every variable is surrounded by clear contextual text so Meta reviewers understand the variable's intent: Hello {{1}}, your order for {{2}} has shipped with tracking ID {{3}}.
4 Missing or Unrealistic Sample Values
When submitting templates with variables ({{1}}, {{2}}) or media headers (Images, PDFs), you must provide realistic sample values. Submitting dummy placeholders like sample, 123, or test often triggers rejection.
How to Fix: Enter actual representative samples in Meta Business Manager: {{1}} = Rajesh Kumar, {{2}} = Order #89201, {{3}} = 24 September.
5 Requesting Sensitive Personal or Financial Information
Templates asking customers to share credit card numbers, complete bank account details, OTPs, or passwords directly inside WhatsApp are strictly rejected under Meta Commerce & Security policies.
How to Fix: Never ask for credentials in chat. Instead, provide a link to a secure, HTTPS-encrypted payment gateway or verification portal.
6 Grammatical Errors & Excessive Punctuation
Submitting templates with spelling mistakes, erratic spacing, all-caps yelling (e.g. BUY NOW HURRY!!), or excessive exclamation marks signals low quality to Meta reviewers.
How to Fix: Review template copy for clean punctuation and professional sentence casing before hitting submit.
7 Language Mismatch Between Content and Selected Code
If you select English (en) as the template language but submit Hindi text in Devanagari script, or vice versa, the submission will be rejected for language mismatch.
How to Fix: For Hinglish (Hindi written in Latin script), Meta officially supports Hinglish (hi_en). Match the language code precisely to the text script.
