Pranav from Twilio here. You're right — businesses can contact users first, provided they only use message templates pre-approved by WhatsApp.The article gets that wrong. The messages MMT or BMS have sent you so far should be according to these templates. Also, businesses can not send unsolicited messages though - users have to opt-in to receiving messages from them. You probably did that when you gave them your WhatsApp number after buying a ticket or a flight.