You can now recharge your Jio or Airtel plan while chatting on WhatsApp| Technology News

Recharging your mobile numbers is about to get a whole lot easier in India as WhatsApp has introduced a new feature that lets users do just that while chatting with their friends and family members. This new feature aims to consolidate important day-to-day transactions, such as recharging mobile numbers and purchasing metro tickets, in one place. It’s also an attempt to get more people to use its payments interface, WhatsApp Pay, which competes with the likes of Google Pay and PhonePe in the country.

WhatsApp new feature will be rolled out to both Android and iOS users. (WhatsApp)

Shweta Ganjoo is a Chief Content Producer at HT Tech. She has over 10 years of experience covering technology, during which time she has focused on consumer tech devices, AI, social media, gadgets, and tech policy, delivering authoritative and reader-focused insights across India’s fast-evolving digital ecosystem.

She began her career in the early 2010s, building a strong foundation in digital-first reporting as India’s tech landscape rapidly expanded. Over the years, she has worked with leading media organizations including India Today Tech, Indian Express Group, and Techlusive, where she played a key role in scaling editorial content and audience engagement. At HT Tech, she drives product recommendation coverage, combining newsroom leadership with hands-on reporting experience.

Her expertise spans smartphones, wearables, smart home devices, AI, and social media ecosystems, along with regulatory developments shaping the tech industry. Shweta is known for her analytical approach to product reviews and news coverage, grounded in hands-on testing and real-world usability. She has conducted industry interviews, tracked emerging tech trends, and produced research-backed stories using verified sources and expert inputs. She holds a masters in Mass Communication, which complements her professional experience in digital journalism and content strategy, and aligns with her academic background in technology. Shweta follows a reader-first editorial philosophy, prioritising accuracy, transparency, and fact-checked reporting to deliver reliable, insightful, and practical insights.

So what exactly is happening?

The Meta-owned messaging app has announced that it is partnering with fintech firm PayU to enable a feature that lets users recharge their mobile numbers without leaving the application. Mobile phone users can recharge their mobile numbers from major telecom operators in the country, that is, Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea, using this feature. This means mobile phone users will not have to visit telecom operator specific websites or access their apps to recharge their mobile numbers.

But there’s a caveat. As of now, this feature is available to prepaid users only. Postpaid users will have to visit the telecom operators’ website or app to pay their monthly bill.

Access and availability

As far as availability goes, WhatsApp has started rolling out this feature to its users, on both Android and iOS-based devices, in India in a phased manner. Once this feature becomes available, it will be accessible in the Payments section in the app, which can be accessed through the Rupee sign that sits next to the Camera icon in the Chats tab. This payments section also houses ticket booking menu for various metros across the country, including Delhi Metro, Mumbai Metro, and Namma Metro (Bengaluru) to name a few.