There are several guidelines businesses need to follow in order to carry out SMS marketing in India.
There is a National Do Not Call Policy (NDNC) and many other regulations that keep in check the number of messages that can be sent and also regulate the time at which these messages can be sent.
Prerequisite
You can only start sending SMS messages with Factoreal after you have configured your SMS settings and configuring your sender destination.
Let’s take a look at some of the restrictions:
Sender ID
The ‘From address’ that is displayed in the recipients mobile device has to be registered before SMS messages are sent to the recipient in the Indian subcontinent.
Failing this may result in the message not being delivered; but charges will still apply to the sender.
Volume (number of messages)
A maximum of 6 messages (with the same content) per hour can be sent from a particular sender number to a recipient.
Time
Businesses should adhere to IST (Indian standard time) of 9AM to 9PM as per TRAI’s regulations.
Any marketing messages sent outside this time limit can get your messages blocked.
NDNC (National Do Not Call List)
Factoreal recommends checking the NDNC list before carrying out SMS marketing to avoid your promotional messages from getting blocked.
Opt-in messages
Opt-in messages can be sent to users who have submitted an approval document.
Senders shouldn’t use transactional route for Opt-in messages and more importantly, web opt-ins can’t be accepted for SMS as approved opt-ins.
Stock related
Like Opt-in messages, senders cannot use the transactional route for sending messages related to shares and stocks.
To do this prior approval from entities registered with SEBI and stockbrokers is necessary.
Read more here: TRAI
