New Indian SMS traffic regulations will affect 2sms customers

Customers looking to send messages internationally may be aware of the new regulations brought in by the Indian government to manage and limit SMS traffic being sent to Indian mobile phones.

India is the world’s second largest wireless market, with nearly 900 million subscribers, and as in every country with a mobile network, spam and marketing SMS messaging has become increasingly popular as a way to reach consumers quickly and cheaply. With the number of complaints rising and the exponential growth of this type of messaging in India, they have now introduced new laws to curb and prevent these communications. As a result, all messaging in India is now subject to these laws, including messages coming from international SMS providers such as 2sms.

These new regulations come in three parts:

• No messages will be delivered to any Indian mobile phone between the hours of 9pm and 9am (Indian Standard Time), and any messages sent overnight will be queued until 9am the following day.

• No Indian SIM card can send more than 200 messages per day, and no more than 6000 in a given month. (This does not apply to 2sms customers.)

• Users who register themselves on the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) are opted out of receiving any messages which the regulations deem to be ‘promotional’, regardless of the content of the message. This includes any message not physically sent from a mobile phone handset, and all messages sent by 2sms. The user can then choose to opt in to one or more different categories of messages that they are interested in receiving, as follows:

1. Banking/Insurance/Financial products/credit cards

2. Real Estate

3. Education

4. Health

5. Consumer goods and automobiles

6. Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT

7. Tourism and Leisure.

What does this mean for 2sms customers?

As a company we are required to adhere to the rules and regulations of each country we send to. This means that we cannot send any messages to Indian customers who have opted out of receiving promotional messages, and we cannot send to Indian users between the hours of 9pm and 9am IST (GMT+5.5), regardless of the content of the message.

If your recipient is registered in the NCPR but would like to receive messages sent by 2sms, they can find instructions on how to do so here on the NCPR register website, or simply text STOP 0 to 1909, the NCPR’s toll-free number, to opt-in to receiving all categories. To opt in to a specific category, the user should text START [category number] to 1909.

If you have any questions about these regulations, or about sending messages internationally with 2sms, please get in touch with our Sales and Support team on +44 800 65 222 77.