--- title: "SMS Sending Hours by Country: Promotional Quiet Hours" description: "SMS sending hours by country: published promotional quiet hours for 15 markets with sources, transactional exemptions, time zones and how to schedule." canonical: "https://omnichannels.ai/blog/sms-quiet-hours-by-country/" language: "en" updated: "2026-11-08" publisher: "BroadNet Technologies" brand: "OmniChannels.ai" category: "compliance" primaryQuery: "sms sending hours by country" keywords: ["promotional sms time restrictions", "sms quiet hours by country", "when can i send marketing sms", "sms sending time rules", "tdra sms hours", "cst sms ramadan hours", "tcpa sms hours", "schedule sms by time zone"] published: "2026-11-08" author: "OmniChannels.ai Editorial Team" reviewer: "BroadNet Messaging Solutions Team" readingMinutes: 9 answer: "Only some regulators publish a time-of-day window for promotional SMS. In our regulation data, 12 of 77 markets publish clock times, for example 07:00 to 21:00 in the UAE (marketing is barred 21:00 to 07:00), 09:00 to 22:00 in Saudi Arabia, and 08:00 to 21:00 in the US. Windows apply to the recipient's local time and to promotional traffic, not to transactional messages. Where no window is published, send in local daytime." takeaways: ["Our regulation data records clock times for promotional SMS in 12 of 77 markets; Pakistan's rule says only 'normal business hours', and Indonesia and Türkiye have no window in the rules we reviewed.", "Windows protect the recipient, so apply them in the recipient's local time zone, never the sender's.", "Transactional messages such as OTPs and account alerts run 24/7 in every entry, but a message that carries an offer is promotional.", "Saudi Arabia has a separate Ramadan window: promotional messages are banned from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan, against 22:00 to 09:00 at other times.", "For multi-country sends, schedule each country's list in its own batch and use the strictest window you must respect."] faq: - q: "What time can I send promotional SMS?" a: "It depends on the destination. Where a regulator publishes a window, it applies: for example, TDRA bars marketing text messages between 21:00 and 07:00 in the UAE, and the TCPA rule in the US restricts marketing A2P to the recipient's local 08:00 to 21:00. Where none is published, schedule for the recipient's local daytime and confirm with BroadNet during onboarding." - q: "Do SMS quiet hours apply to OTP and transactional messages?" a: "No. In every entry in our regulation data, transactional traffic such as OTPs and alerts is not subject to the promotional window and runs 24/7. The exemption covers genuinely transactional content only. If a message mixes in an offer or advertising, regulators and operators can treat it as promotional, with the window and consent rules that follow." - q: "Whose time zone counts, the sender's or the recipient's?" a: "The recipient's. Sending-hour rules exist to protect people from being disturbed, so the clock that matters is the one where the message lands. A campaign scheduled at 10:00 in Dubai reaches South Africa at 08:00 local time, which is inside that country's weekday window but outside its Saturday and Sunday rules." - q: "Are there SMS quiet hours during Ramadan?" a: "In our data, Saudi Arabia is the market with a Ramadan rule: CST's regulations ban promotional messages from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan, instead of 22:00 to 09:00 on other days. Other entries give no separate Ramadan window. Confirm the rule with your account team before a Ramadan campaign, because regulators can amend it." - q: "Do these hours apply to WhatsApp marketing messages?" a: "These SMS windows come from telecom regulators and apply to SMS. WhatsApp marketing is governed by recipient opt-in and Meta's policies; Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy requires opt-in permission and respect for opt-out requests. This guide states no WhatsApp sending-hour rule. Read Meta's current policy." sources: - title: "TDRA spam regulatory policy (UAE)" url: "https://tdra.gov.ae/-/media/About/regulations-and-ruling/EN/cellular-phone-spam-regulatory-policy-English.ashx" - title: "CST Regulations for Curbing SPAM Messages and Calls (Saudi Arabia)" url: "https://www.cst.gov.sa/en/regulations-and-licenses/regulations/Document-522" - title: "47 CFR 64.1200 (US TCPA rules), eCFR" url: "https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200" - title: "TRAI TCCCPR 2018, consolidated with amendments (May 2026)" url: "https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/2026-05/CA_21052026.pdf" - title: "WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy" url: "https://whatsappbusiness.com/policy/" --- # SMS Sending Hours by Country: Promotional Quiet Hours Canonical: https://omnichannels.ai/blog/sms-quiet-hours-by-country/ Language: en Publisher: OmniChannels.ai by BroadNet Technologies This guide is for marketing, compliance and operations teams that send promotional SMS to more than one country and need to know when a campaign is allowed to land. It lists the published sending windows we hold in our regulation data, explains how to read them, and shows how to schedule a multi-country send without breaking them. ## What are SMS quiet hours? Quiet hours are time-of-day limits on promotional SMS, set by a regulator or a law, during which marketing messages must not be delivered. They exist so people are not woken or disturbed by advertising. Three things matter before you read any table: - **They target promotional traffic.** Transactional messages (OTPs, delivery alerts, account notices) are not covered by the promotional window. - **They follow the recipient.** The rule is about when the message reaches the person, so the recipient's local time decides. - **They are not universal.** Many regulators publish no window at all. That does not mean any hour is fine; it means the limit comes from the operator, consumer-protection law or common sense instead. See also our [quiet hours glossary entry](/glossary/quiet-hours/) and the [rules-by-country overview](/blog/sms-marketing-rules-by-country/). ## Which countries have published promotional SMS hours? Our regulation data covers 77 markets. Twelve record clock times for promotional SMS and Pakistan records a business-hours rule without clock times; the table quotes each entry. Two more (Indonesia and Türkiye) say that no window is set in the rules we reviewed. Each row names the source in the entry and links to the country's sender ID page. | Country | Promotional SMS window or rule (as recorded) | Source named in the entry | Country page | |---|---|---|---| | Cambodia | Advertising SMS only between 08:00 and 21:00 | TRC news release | [Cambodia](/sender-id/cambodia/) | | Colombia | Monday to Friday 07:00 to 19:00, Saturday 08:00 to 15:00, never on Sundays or public holidays (Law 2300 of 2023) | Ley 2300 de 2023 | [Colombia](/sender-id/colombia/) | | India | Time bands outside 10:00 to 21:00 IST are off by default for promotional traffic; recipients can block further bands (TCCCPR 2018) | TRAI TCCCPR 2018, consolidated May 2026 | [India](/sender-id/india/) | | Kenya | Promotional messages only between 07:00 and 19:00 | CA consumer-protection guidelines | [Kenya](/sender-id/kenya/) | | Nigeria | Promotional A2P restricted 20:00 to 08:00 WAT | NCC CME report | [Nigeria](/sender-id/nigeria/) | | Pakistan | Within normal business hours; the regulation fixes no clock times, so agree the window with the operator | PTA Spam Regulations, as amended in 2022 | [Pakistan](/sender-id/pakistan/) | | Qatar | Direct-marketing messages barred 21:00 to 09:00 | CRA Spam Regulation | [Qatar](/sender-id/qatar/) | | Saudi Arabia | Promotional messages banned 22:00 to 09:00 daily, and 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan | CST SPAM regulations | [Saudi Arabia](/sender-id/saudi-arabia/) | | South Africa | No direct marketing on Sundays and public holidays, on Saturdays before 09:00 or after 13:00, or on other days between 20:00 and 08:00 (WASPA Code of Conduct, section 16.8) | WASPA Code of Conduct | [South Africa](/sender-id/south-africa/) | | Sri Lanka | Promotional messages barred 20:00 to 08:00 | TRCSL promotional-messages guidelines | [Sri Lanka](/sender-id/sri-lanka/) | | UAE | Marketing text messages barred 21:00 to 07:00 GST | TDRA spam policy | [UAE](/sender-id/uae/) | | United States | Marketing A2P restricted to the recipient's local 08:00 to 21:00 window under the TCPA | 47 CFR 64.1200 | [USA](/sender-id/usa/) | | Vietnam | Advertising messages only between 07:00 and 22:00 each day (Decree 91/2020/ND-CP) | Decree 91/2020 | [Vietnam](/sender-id/vietnam/) | | Indonesia | No time-of-day window set in the regulations we reviewed; agree hours with each operator | Komdigi | [Indonesia](/sender-id/indonesia/) | | Türkiye | Law No. 6563 and its regulation set no time-of-day window; agree hours with the operator | Law No. 6563 | [Türkiye](/sender-id/turkiye/) | Read the verbs carefully. Some entries state a **ban** (UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria) and others an **allowed window** (Cambodia, Kenya, Vietnam, US). They describe the same idea from opposite sides, so a UAE campaign has a 07:00 to 21:00 window and a Kenyan one 07:00 to 19:00. Transactional traffic is marked as 24/7 in the entries that cover it. ## What about the other 62 countries? For the remaining 62 markets, we have not found a regulator-published time-of-day window for promotional SMS. Agree sending hours with the operator and schedule promotional sends for the recipient's local daytime. Transactional traffic runs 24/7. This group is: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Comoros, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Ghana, Hong Kong, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Rwanda, Senegal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay and Zambia. Pick your country on the [sender ID hub](/sender-id/) for its registration and consent notes. "Not found" is a statement about our research, not a guarantee. Operators set their own conditions, and other laws (consumer protection, data protection) can matter. Treat the list as a starting point and have the rule confirmed by BroadNet during onboarding. ## Does a quiet-hours rule apply to transactional messages? No. In every entry that mentions transactional traffic, it runs 24/7 and the promotional window does not apply. An OTP at 03:00 is normal. The exemption depends on content, not on how you label the campaign. A delivery alert that adds "20% off your next order" has become promotional, and regulators and operators can treat it that way. Keep transactional templates free of marketing text. The same split drives consent: see [opt-in consent for multichannel campaigns](/blog/opt-in-consent-multichannel-campaigns/). ## Which time zone should I use? Use the recipient's. A window is only meaningful at the point of delivery, and the entries that name a zone (GST for the UAE, WAT for Nigeria, IST for India) give the local clock of the country concerned. The US entry says so explicitly: the recipient's local 08:00 to 21:00. Two practical consequences: - **A single clock is not enough.** A send scheduled for 10:00 in Dubai reaches South Africa at 08:00, still inside the weekday window but before the Saturday opening of 09:00. - **Countries with several time zones** (the US, Canada, Brazil, Australia) need a time zone per recipient, not per country. Store it from the area code, the address or the number's region. Time zones also shift. Check daylight-saving changes on the dates of your campaign. ## How does the Ramadan rule work in Saudi Arabia? According to the CST entry, promotional messages are banned from 22:00 to 09:00 daily, and from 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan. That shifts the permitted window to noon until 01:00 during the month. Outside Ramadan the permitted window is 09:00 to 22:00. Check the Ramadan start date each year, and do not schedule a Saudi list near the changeover on the assumption of the old window. Our entries give no separate Ramadan window for other countries. For campaign planning beyond the hours, read the [Ramadan and Eid messaging guide](/blog/ramadan-messaging-campaigns-gcc/). ## How do I schedule a multi-country send? Split the list by country, set a window per country, and schedule each batch to land inside it. The procedure: 1. **Tag every number with its country.** Use E.164 numbers so the country code identifies the market. See [E.164 format explained](/blog/e164-phone-number-format/). 2. **Separate promotional and transactional traffic.** Only promotional messages need a window. 3. **Look up each country's rule** in the table above, or note "no published window" and choose a daytime band. 4. **Keep one batch per rule.** Mixing countries in one batch means working out the overlap of their windows in each recipient's local time, which is error-prone; separate batches avoid it. 5. **Leave a margin.** Delivery is not instant. Handset delays and retries can push a message past the edge of the window, so schedule 30 to 60 minutes inside it. 6. **Check opt-outs and consent** before the send, not after. See [bulk SMS best practices](/blog/bulk-sms-best-practices/). 7. **Record what you scheduled.** Keep the batch time and the rule you applied for audit. The [send time planner](/tools/send-time-planner/) on this site helps compare windows across countries. ## Worked example: a retailer launches a sale in four countries "Souq Rafiq" (synthetic), a retailer headquartered in Dubai, wants to announce a weekend sale by SMS to customers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kenya and South Africa on a Saturday. | Country | Rule applied (from the table) | Planned local send time | |---|---|---| | UAE | Marketing barred 21:00 to 07:00 | 11:00 | | Saudi Arabia | Banned 22:00 to 09:00 (outside Ramadan) | 11:00 | | Kenya | Allowed 07:00 to 19:00 | 11:00 | | South Africa | Saturday allowed 09:00 to 13:00 | 10:00, with a 30-minute margin before 13:00 | The team splits the sheet by country column, sets one scheduled batch per country, and keeps the order confirmation SMS (transactional) on a separate sender and template so it is never held back by promotional scheduling. The offer text does not appear in any transactional message. Before sending, they check the opt-out list and confirm the sender ID per country. ## What are the common mistakes? - **Scheduling in the sender's time zone.** The recipient's clock decides. - **Treating "no published window" as "any hour".** Use local daytime and ask your account team. - **Putting an offer in an OTP or alert.** It becomes promotional. - **Ignoring the weekend and holiday rules** in Colombia and South Africa. - **Forgetting Ramadan** in Saudi Arabia. - **Sending to the whole list at once** with no margin at the window edge. - **Using a stale table.** Rules change. Check the regulator's current text; our entries carry a review date. - **Assuming WhatsApp follows SMS windows.** WhatsApp marketing depends on consent and Meta's policy, not these windows. ## What about WhatsApp marketing messages? WhatsApp marketing is governed by recipient consent and Meta's own policies, not by the SMS windows above. Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy says a business may contact people only after receiving opt-in permission from the recipient, and that it must respect requests to block, discontinue or opt out. It also recommends separate opt-in by message category. This guide states no WhatsApp sending-hour rule. If you also message by WhatsApp, read Meta's current policy and template rules. You may choose to keep WhatsApp marketing within a daytime band as a courtesy to recipients, but that is a choice, not a rule we can cite. ## Is this legal advice? No. This is general information drawn from our regulation data, which names the regulator or law for each entry. Rules change, and the regulator's text is always the final word. Confirm the current rule for each destination with BroadNet during onboarding, and take legal advice for borderline cases. ## How OmniChannels.ai helps OmniChannels.ai [campaigns](/platform/campaigns/) support Excel/CSV upload, preview, scheduling and duplicate filtering, so you can split a list by country and schedule each batch for its own window. BroadNet sends A2P SMS over direct operator connectivity and our team prepares and files sender ID registrations with you. Delivery reports with CSV export show what landed and when. Look up a country on the [sender ID hub](/sender-id/) or see the [SMS channel](/channels/sms/). To confirm a country's current rule, [contact the team](/contact/).