SMS is still how many UAE businesses send offers, reminders and one-time passwords. Marketing SMS in the UAE follows a policy of the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), and the SMS providers apply it on their side too. This checklist summarises what the policy and Twilio’s UAE guidelines say. It is not legal advice.
The checklist
1. Get consent first, and keep the record. The TDRA policy says the record of a consent includes the date, time and the words by which the customer gave it, and that consent records are kept for as long as marketing messages are sent to that customer. Twilio’s guidelines also ask you to get opt-in consent before sending marketing or other non-essential messages.
2. Do not ask for consent by SMS or by a call. Under the policy, a messaging service subscriber does not start a consent request with text messages or voice calls. Collect consent on your website, in your shop or in a chat the customer started.
3. Put a way to opt out in every marketing message. The policy requires a way to start the opt-out procedure in all marketing text messages, free of charge.
4. Send between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. Marketing text messages may not be sent between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. Twilio queues promotional messages sent in that period and delivers them when the allowed time starts.
5. Use a registered Sender ID, with AD- for promotions. Carriers in the UAE accept SMS only from registered Sender IDs, and promotional alphanumeric Sender IDs carry the AD- prefix, which counts towards the 11-character limit. Health-related Sender IDs need an approval letter from the UAE health authorities.
6. Keep links and numbers out of the body. Twilio’s guidelines say messages containing URLs, WhatsApp or LINE chat links or phone numbers are not allowed, and that promotional messaging is supported only for domestic entities.
What MonoChat does today
- Twilio SMS channel. MonoChat can send SMS through Twilio from a phone number, a Messaging Service or a registered alphanumeric Sender ID. A Sender ID channel is send-only: customers cannot reply to it, and MonoChat shows that in the inbox.
- Opt-in in flows. An Opt-in step in a flow saves the customer’s Yes or No on their profile.
- Bulk messages to opted-in customers. A bulk message can be scheduled and filtered to customers whose Opt-in is Yes.
What MonoChat does not do for you today: it does not store the date and wording of each consent, it does not hold back bulk messages outside a sending window, and it does not handle STOP replies to bulk messages. Schedule your SMS campaigns inside the allowed hours, and keep your own consent records.
A practical set-up
- Collect consent on a web form or in a WhatsApp chat the customer started, and store when and how they agreed.
- Mark those customers Opt-in Yes, with a flow’s Opt-in step.
- Register your Sender ID with the AD- prefix for promotions.
- Write the message without links or phone numbers, and with the opt-out instruction.
- Schedule the bulk message between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., filtered to Opt-in Yes.