Legal
Acceptable use
These are the rules for sending through Mesara. They exist to keep your number working. Read them with our Terms of Service, which they form part of.
Section 01
Why this page exists
Mesara sits on top of the WhatsApp Business Platform, so Meta's rules apply to every business using it. The important detail is where Meta enforces them. Not on us. On your number, on your own WhatsApp Business Account.
When somebody blocks you or reports your message as unwanted, that counts against your number. Enough of it and your quality rating drops, your daily sending limit drops with it, and the number can be restricted or banned. An appeal is possible and we will make it with you, but most bans are not reversed, and a new number does not bring your customers with it. Your customers saved that number. It is on your shopfront, your bill book and your Google listing.
So this page is not a formality. It is the same job the product does.
- 02
Meta's policies apply to you
Meta sets what may be sent on WhatsApp in the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, which also carries the commerce rules that used to sit in a separate Commerce Policy. It is published by Meta and updated from time to time. We deliberately do not copy it out here, because a copy on our site would go stale and you would end up following the old version. Read Meta's and follow Meta's. If anything on this page ever conflicts with it, Meta's policy wins, and Meta can act on your account whatever we think.
- 03
What is required
Required.Get opt-in before you send marketing
The person must have agreed to hear from you on WhatsApp, and you should be able to say when they agreed and how. A form, a checkbox at checkout, a reply to your ad, a written request in your shop. Mesara records consent against each contact so you have that record when you need it.
Required.Say who you are
Your display name and your messages must make it obvious which business is writing. Do not send as somebody else, do not imply an endorsement you do not have, and do not use a number you are not authorised to use.
Required.Make it easy to stop, then actually stop
Every marketing message needs a clear way out, and an opt-out has to be honoured quickly and across everything you send, not just the campaign it came from. Mesara records the opt-out and blocks further sending to that contact.
You are responsible for having a lawful basis to hold and message your contacts, and for what your team sends from your account.
- 04
What is not allowed
Do not use Mesara for any of the following:
Not allowed.Buying, renting or scraping contact lists. A bought list is a list of people who never agreed to hear from you, and it is the fastest way to lose a number.
Not allowed.Messaging people who never opted in, including numbers you collected for a different purpose, such as a delivery address list or a database from another business.
Not allowed.Sending to a contact who has opted out, or working around an opt-out by moving them to another list or another number.
Not allowed.Impersonating another business or person, or sending from a number you do not have the right to use.
Not allowed.Anything unlawful, deceptive, or designed to defraud, including fake offers, false urgency and payment requests that are not what they claim to be.
Not allowed.The goods, services and content that Meta itself prohibits in the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, including the commerce rules set out inside it.
Not allowed.Trying to get around Mesara's guardrails, rate limits, consent checks or quality controls, whether through the app or the API.
- 05
What our guardrails do about it
Mesara does not only ask you to follow these rules. It checks every send before it leaves, and it will slow a send down, hold it, or refuse it outright. Sending to a contact with no consent on record is refused. Sending faster than your number's current tier supports is throttled. A new number is warmed up over time rather than opened at full volume. When your quality rating drops, sending is paused automatically and you are told why.
That is deliberate, and it is not a fault in the product. A campaign that goes out slower than you wanted is an inconvenience you recover from in a day. A banned number usually is not recovered at all, and prevention is the only protection that actually works. Do not try to route around the guardrails, and please do not ask us to switch them off.
The guardrails work for your number
If Mesara stops a send, it is because letting it through put your number at risk. Tell us what you were trying to do and we will find a way to do it that Meta accepts.
- 06
What happens if you break these rules
We would rather talk to you than close your account, so in most cases it runs in this order:
A warning.
We tell you what we saw and what has to change.
Sending suspended.
Outbound sending stops while it is sorted out. Your inbox keeps working, so you can still answer customers who write to you.
Account termination.
For a repeated breach after a warning, or straight away for a severe one, such as a bought list, a scam, or anything unlawful.
We may act immediately where Meta or the law requires it. If we close your account for a breach, the period you have already paid for is not refunded. See our Refunds and cancellation policy.
- 07
Reporting a problem
If you received a WhatsApp message you did not agree to receive from a business using Mesara, tell us. Email hello@mesara.lk with the number that messaged you and, if you can, a screenshot. We look into every report, Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Sri Lanka time. You can also block and report the sender from inside WhatsApp, which is what registers with Meta.
If you use Mesara and you are not sure whether something you want to send is allowed, ask us before you send it. That question is much easier to answer beforehand.
- 08
Changes to this policy
We update this page as the product and Meta's policies change. When we make a material change we will update the date at the top and, where appropriate, let you know inside the app.