How does SMS work in India? What are the guidelines, rules and regulations for consumer and business SMS usage?

When you receive any SMS, many times instead of Sender’s Mobile no, you see something like HP-ICICIB or HP-MOBONR. You would surely have got used to this type of SMS from your bank, e-commerce companies, etc. So, how are these SMS different from the SMS sent from your mobile?

Person-to-Person SMS( (P2P SMS):

• SMS from Mobile to Mobile. An example is sending out an SMS from one mobile no. to another
• Sender’s Mobile number is displayed on recipients handset
• Message can be replied back on the same number
• You can not make out the sender unless that sender’s number is stored in mobile or with TrueCaller application
• All messages sent through them are deemed transactional
• May have different rates for Local & STD SMSs
• SMS recharge packs available from your operator, or online via sites like Paytm, Freecharge, etc.
• With TRAI’s 2011 regulations, operators can provide SMS packs for a max of only 200 SMS per SIM per Day. After that it has to be mandatorily charged at minimum Rs 0.5/SMS
• Special rates for Blackout days(Diwali, New Year, etc. when Whatsapp and Hike become the tune for spam)

Application-to-Person SMS (A2P SMS):

• SMS from an Application to Mobile. E.g, Sending out an SMS via MOBONR (Any service provider like SMS Airtel, JIO, BSNL, Vodafone, etc.) dashboard, or application.
• A 6 character Sender ID like LM-JABONG for transactional SMS and LM-012345 for Promotional2 categories of messages, SenderID instead of Mobile no. shown at receiver’s end: Promotional and Transactional
• Same rates throughout India

Promotional Bulk SMS Services

Promotional Bulk SMS is one of the cheapest marketing solutions that are available in the market. You can create awareness about your brand, product or any offer in a second with a single click by sending bulk sms, You can also send your clients new offers, new products or any events right away. Mobonair Bulk SMS offers you Promotional Bulk SMS that can be used for Brand Promotion, Offers, product marketing, and general awareness.

Promotional Bulk SMS Features

• Promotional SMS on NON-DND Numbers
• DND Numbers list can be extracted and will not be charged.
• Delivery Time – Instant Delivery
• Delivery Report – Instant bulk SMS Delivery Report, 100% of Guaranteed Delivery and Money Back Guaranteed
• Bulk SMS Gateway API can be provided to integrate on your application/portal

Promotional SenderIDs:6 Digit Numeric SenderIDs in format AM-XTYYY like VM-012345.

Do’s & Do not’s :

1. The last 5 numbers are specifically allocated to a registered Telemarketer by Operator.
2. Only Numerical characters allowed.
3. The First digit X refers to the category for which promotional SMS belongs to. For Eg, if I am a travel company, then ideally, the SMS should be sent through SenderID DM-718345.

Transactional Bulk SMS

Transactional Bulk SMS Features

• If the customer is a Company then they would require details about how their customers are subscribing, getting registered and a sample of subscription form is required.
• For Educational Institution, we would require a letter stating that the SMS will be used for updates to teachers & students or parents and no Promotional activity will be done from the particular account.
• For Government Organization, it would require a letter stating to whom these messages will be sent and if in case of any complaint what kind of documentation will they be provided with one sample mandatory
• Bulk SMS API Gateway could be used to integrate on the application or  SMS portal.

Transactional SenderID is a 6 character alphabetic SenderID like LM-GOOGLE, LM- CITIBK.

What are the Do’s & Do not’s :

1. Special Characters like comma(,), dot(.),underscore(_),hypen(-),etc is not allowed.
2. Transactional Sender IDs should always be in uppercase only.
3. SenderID should resemble the company name being sent.
4. never try to impersonate any other company or celebrity identity.