diff --git a/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigtable/BigtableIO.java b/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigtable/BigtableIO.java
index 19e0d089947a..d78ae2cb6c57 100644
--- a/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigtable/BigtableIO.java
+++ b/sdks/java/io/google-cloud-platform/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/io/gcp/bigtable/BigtableIO.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import static org.apache.beam.sdk.options.ValueProvider.StaticValueProvider;
 import static org.apache.beam.sdk.transforms.errorhandling.BadRecordRouter.BAD_RECORD_TAG;
 import static org.apache.beam.sdk.util.Preconditions.checkArgumentNotNull;
+import static org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.base.MoreObjects.firstNonNull;
 import static org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkArgument;
 import static org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.base.Preconditions.checkState;
 
@@ -1147,9 +1148,13 @@ public Write withThrottlingTargetMs(int throttlingTargetMs) {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Returns a new {@link BigtableIO.Write} with throttling time reporting enabled. When latency
-     * exceeded the set value, the amount greater than the target will be considered as throttling
-     * time and report back to runner.
+     * Returns a new {@link BigtableIO.Write} with throttling time reporting enabled. When write
+     * request latency exceeded the set value, the amount greater than the target will be considered
+     * as throttling time and report back to runner.
+     *
+     * <p>If not set, defaults to 3 min for completed batch request. Client side flowing control
+     * configurations (e.g. {@link #withFlowControl}, {@link #withThrottlingTargetMs} will adjust
+     * the default value accordingly. Set to 0 to disable throttling time reporting.
      */
     public Write withThrottlingReportTargetMs(int throttlingReportTargetMs) {
       BigtableWriteOptions options = getBigtableWriteOptions();
@@ -1324,6 +1329,11 @@ private static class BigtableWriterFn
     private final Coder<KV<ByteString, Iterable<Mutation>>> inputCoder;
     private final BadRecordRouter badRecordRouter;
 
+    private final Counter throttlingMsecs =
+        Metrics.counter(Metrics.THROTTLE_TIME_NAMESPACE, Metrics.THROTTLE_TIME_COUNTER_NAME);
+
+    private final int throttleReportThresMsecs;
+
     private transient Set<KV<BigtableWriteException, BoundedWindow>> badRecords = null;
     // Due to callback thread not supporting Beam metrics, Record pending metrics and report later.
     private transient long pendingThrottlingMsecs;
@@ -1344,6 +1354,8 @@ private static class BigtableWriterFn
       this.badRecordRouter = badRecordRouter;
       this.failures = new ConcurrentLinkedQueue<>();
       this.id = factory.newId();
+      // a request completed more than this time will be considered throttled. Disabled if set to 0
+      throttleReportThresMsecs = firstNonNull(writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs(), 180_000);
       LOG.debug("Created Bigtable Write Fn with writeOptions {} ", writeOptions);
     }
 
@@ -1361,9 +1373,6 @@ public void startBundle(StartBundleContext c) throws IOException {
       badRecords = new HashSet<>();
     }
 
-    private final Counter throttlingMsecs =
-        Metrics.counter(Metrics.THROTTLE_TIME_NAMESPACE, Metrics.THROTTLE_TIME_COUNTER_NAME);
-
     @ProcessElement
     public void processElement(ProcessContext c, BoundedWindow window) throws Exception {
       checkForFailures();
@@ -1407,11 +1416,9 @@ private BiConsumer<MutateRowResponse, Throwable> handleMutationException(
           }
         } else {
           // add the excessive amount to throttling metrics if elapsed time > target latency
-          if (writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs() != null
-              && writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs() > 0) {
+          if (throttleReportThresMsecs > 0) {
             long excessTime =
-                new Duration(writeStart, Instant.now()).getMillis()
-                    - writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs();
+                new Duration(writeStart, Instant.now()).getMillis() - throttleReportThresMsecs;
             if (excessTime > 0) {
               pendingThrottlingMsecs = excessTime;
             }
@@ -1466,11 +1473,9 @@ public void finishBundle(FinishBundleContext c) throws Exception {
             }
           }
           // add the excessive amount to throttling metrics if elapsed time > target latency
-          if (writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs() != null
-              && writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs() > 0) {
+          if (throttleReportThresMsecs > 0) {
             long excessTime =
-                new Duration(closeStart, Instant.now()).getMillis()
-                    - writeOptions.getThrottlingReportTargetMs();
+                new Duration(closeStart, Instant.now()).getMillis() - throttleReportThresMsecs;
             if (excessTime > 0) {
               throttlingMsecs.inc(excessTime);
             }