SMS Country regulations and restrictions

Saudi Arabia

Available countries

There are many filters in place in Saudi Arabia to block spam messages and in some cases, these prevent legitimate A2P (application-to-person) messages from reaching users. Clickatell is experienced in making use of approved routes to ensure successful delivery, which means we can help you get your messages to recipients. Simply get in touch with one of our sales advisors for help in setting up your program.

Below is a list of restrictions that currently apply. You can also read more at the Communications and Information Technology Commission that regulates Saudi Arabian SMS messaging.

We recommend working with a sales advisor to ensure compliance with all SMS regulations. Get in touch now and set up your messaging program with the help of our experts.

Restriction Description
DND exists Yes
Time restrictions Yes
  • Marketing messages are only allowed between 8 AM - 9 PM
  • Transactional content can be sent any time
International vs local split Yes
Local traffic Some suppliers confirmed local routing is not allowed via international aggregators, only aggregators that are established in Saudi Arabia may offer this to their clients. Local Saudi aggregators may also not resell the local routes to other international aggregators. This means that we and our international suppliers can only offer international routing.
International traffic ---
General content restrictions

Promotional Content:      

  • All promotional content needs to be whitelisted
  • STC needs to have the following text added to the end "SMS STOP to opt out"
  • All promotional traffic will be subject to the DND
  • Messages with adult content and gambling are not allowed.

Transactional Content:

  • Transactional content can be sent via an OTP bind which will bypass the DND
  • This type of traffic can be sent at any time of the day
Content registration required Yes - URL whitelisting is required
Opt-out instructions required Yes
  • STC promotional traffic needs to have the following text added to the end "SMS STOP to opt out"
Sender ID regulations
  • Pre-registration required
  • All promotional sender IDs need to have 'AD' added to the end of the sender ID, e.g., 'Google AD' or Google-AD
  • Saudi-Arabian networks have implemented strong filtering that blocks messages coming from numeric sender IDs.
  • Local entities' sender ID registrations are not guaranteed  processes and could take up to 6 months with MNO
  • Valid Trade License or Establishment Card or Decree or Company registration required
Sender ID registration offered by Clickatell Limited availability
Sender ID documentation required Yes
Country supports MNP Yes

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