Republic of India

The key details for mobile messaging in India are below. We have full one-way reach to all mobile operators in this region. For a datasheet that contains more information, such as best practices and the proportion of subscribers on each mobile operator, please contact us.

Note that India has restrictions on the time you can send messages, and the type of number you can use as a message originator. For more information, see Sending to India.

See help for an explanation of each field.

Region

Southern Asia

Dialing Code

91

1-way

Yes

2-way

Short Code & Long Code

2-way Setup Time

1

Primary Character Encoding

GSM

Max Characters for Single-part message

160

Multi-part messages

Yes

Delivery Receipts

Yes

Mobile Number Portability

Yes

Alphanumeric Originator maintained on 1-way

Yes, when Registered

Alphanumeric Originator Registration required

Yes

Short Code maintained on 1-way

Overwritten

Local Long Code maintained on 1-way

Overwritten

International Long Code maintained on 1-way

Overwritten

* Notes

Guidance / Restrictions

Message Classifications In India A2P messages are classified as Domestic or International: Domestic - to be allowed to send Domestic traffic a company must have a local Legal entity and office in India. Companies need to register on the DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) platform as a PE (Principle Entity) which requires company registration certificate and KYC documents. International - any traffic from companies which do not fall under the definition of Domestic traffic above. Messages are further classified as either transactional or promotional: Transactional - means a message triggered by a transaction performed by the Subscriber, who is also the Sender’s customer, provided such a message is sent within thirty minutes of the transaction being performed and is directly related to it. Provided that the transaction may be a banking transaction, delivery of OTP, purchase of goods or services, etc. Promotional - means commercial communication message for which the sender has not taken any explicit consent from the intended Recipient to send such messages. Promotional messages must only be sent between 0900 and 2100hrs local time. Combining the above: Domestic Transactional - must use an originator that is a pre-registered 6-letter word (alpha) and you must have verifiable and explicit consent from the end user. Consent is only valid for 6 months. Domestic Promotional - Alphas are not allowed, only pre-registered 6-digit (numeric) Originators. You must have verifiable and explicit consent from the end user. Consent is only valid for 6 months. Domestic Transactional and Promotional - a 2-letter prefix will be added to the beginning of the alpha originator on handset delivery (e.g. VK-OPNMKT). The 2-letter prefix indicates the Indian network operator (1st letter) and the "circle" or region (2nd letter) it is located in that delivers the message to the end-users network. Therefore, VK in the example here means the network operator is Vodafone in the Kolkata "circle". International Transactional and Promotional - Originators will be overwrottem to a random Short or Long Code. DND A Do Not Disturb (DND) register exists If a Subscriber has opted-in to this a promotional message will be blocked. You can send a maximum of 100 text messages per day to an end user. 2-way For 2-way a long or short code originator must be placed within the body of the message for a reply path. This is the market norm for two way A2P SMS in India. Should a user attempt to respond to the originator the message was received, the message will fail on the device side. There are extensiive regulations in India. For further information please contact us.