96% users in India receive WhatsApp spam messages daily; only 4% get none

The Supreme Court on February 3 directed Meta Platforms and its messaging service WhatsApp to file an affidavit giving a clear undertaking that WhatsApp user data will not be shared for advertising purposes. The court warned that failure to assure within a week could lead to the dismissal of Meta’s challenge to proceedings against WhatsApp’s 2021 privacy policy.

WhatsApp has hundreds of millions of users in India, out of more than three billion users globally. Alongside the legal scrutiny, complaints about unsolicited and fraudulent WhatsApp messages have increased steadily.

Against this backdrop, LocalCircles conducted a nationwide survey to assess user experiences with promotional and spam messages over the past 12 months. The survey also comes amid WhatsApp is piloting advertisements, a move that some users fear could worsen the volume of unwanted messages.

According to the survey, 96% of WhatsApp users surveyed in India said they receive pesky or unsolicited commercial messages every day. When asked how many promotional or spam WhatsApp messages they receive daily, only 4% of 13,362 respondents said they do not receive any.

Among the rest, 54% reported receiving one to three messages a day, 30% said they receive four to seven messages, and 11% said they receive eight or more messages daily.

The survey also indicates that the situation has deteriorated over the past 36 months. Compared with a 2023 study, the share of users receiving eight or more spam messages daily rose to 19% from 11%.

The proportion of users who do not receive any such messages fell slightly from 5% in 2023 to 4% now.

Respondents said spam messages most commonly relate to financial services, real estate, healthcare or pathology services, and job or earnings offers. Of 14,281 respondents to this question, 71% said they receive messages selling real estate and 71% said they receive messages selling financial services.

About 46% cited healthcare or pathology services, 44% job or earnings offers, and smaller shares pointed to services such as home repairs, gaming, telecom offers and other categories.

The survey found that many of these messages are being sent through WhatsApp Business, a paid service that allows businesses to message users. Community discussions highlighted concerns that such messages are reaching users in an unchecked manner.

When asked how they respond to spam messages, 59% of 13,748 respondents said they block the sender. Another 35% said they ignore the messages, while 3% mute the sender.

Despite blocking, many users reported that senders continue to reach them through new numbers or accounts.

The findings have renewed calls for stronger oversight and enforcement by government bodies such as the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which is responsible for enforcing India’s Personal Data Protection Act.

Supporters of stricter regulation have welcomed the Supreme Court’s firm stance on WhatsApp’s privacy policy, saying it addresses concerns faced by ordinary users.