Skip to content
OmniChannels.ai
Menu

SMS pricing and sender ID rules in India

Indicative rates by operator and volume, sender ID registration, consent rules and quiet hours for business SMS to India, from BroadNet's published rate card and regulatory research.

SMS from (per segment)
$0.0022
Operators (3 direct)
4
Sender ID registration
3-7 business days (DLT header registration)
Regulator
TRAI

Short answer

Business SMS to India starts at $0.0022 per message segment on BroadNet's published rate card, with lower rates from 100,000 messages a month. 4 mobile operators are covered, 3 on direct routes. Sender ID registration with TRAI typically takes 3-7 business days (DLT header registration).

Trusted infrastructureOfficial Meta Business Solution ProviderGoogle RBM partnerGSMA memberISO/IEC 27001:2022ISO/IEC 27018ISO 9001:2015ISO 22301SOC 2 Type IIGDPR compliant

SMS list rates in India

Indicative price per SMS segment by monthly volume tier, averaged across operators, from BroadNet's published rate card. The more you send, the lower the rate.

SMS list rates in India
$0.0024
$0.0021
$0.0018
$0.0014
Up to 100,000100,000 to 1 million1 to 5 million5 million and more

Indicative list prices in USD before taxes and sender ID fees, reviewed September 24, 2026. Your quote confirms the final rate.

List rate by operator
OperatorUp to 100,000
Reliance Jio$0.0022
Bharti Airtel$0.0024
Vi (Vodafone Idea)$0.0026
Estimate your monthly cost

Rates by operator and volume tier

OperatorRouteUp to 100,000100,000 to 1 million1 to 5 million5 million and more
Reliance JioDirect$0.0022$0.0019$0.0016$0.0013
Bharti AirtelDirect$0.0024$0.0021$0.0018$0.0014
Vi (Vodafone Idea)Direct$0.0026$0.0023$0.0019$0.0016

USD per SMS segment, before taxes and sender ID fees. Rate card reviewed 24 September 2026. Local-currency invoicing in INR is available. Published list rate in INR: from INR 0.1830 per segment.

Estimate your monthly costCheck your sender IDSender ID rules in India

SMS rules in India

Summary of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and operator requirements. Last reviewed 11 October 2026; rules change, so we confirm them for your traffic during onboarding.

Sender ID formats

  • TRAI / DLT · Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL: Header registered on DLT; operators currently issue 6-character headers, letters for transactional and service traffic and digits for promotional (TRAI's definition allows up to 11 characters); the network appends -P, -S, -T or -G to show the category

Sender ID registration

  • TRAI / DLT · Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL: Mandatory — header + every message template registered on DLT before send
  • Typical lead time: 3-7 business days (DLT header registration).

Consent (opt-in)

  • TRAI TCCCPR 2018 requires verifiable opt-in. DPDP Act 2023 adds explicit consent capture and data-subject rights on top. Consent source, timestamp, and channel logged per-recipient.

Opt-out

  • Recipients block promotional messages, fully or by category, in the preference register (SMS or call 1909, USSD, IVRS, an approved app or an OTP-verified web portal), and operators add the details needed to revoke consent to every promotional message. Preferences and revoked consents are scrubbed on DLT before delivery.

Quiet hours and send window

  • Under TCCCPR 2018 the time bands outside 10:00–21:00 IST are off by default for promotional traffic, and recipients can block further time bands. Transactional messages are not blocked by these preferences.
  • Promotional window on the rate card: 10:00–21:00 IST.

Regulator

  • Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Country code +91.

Sources

Send SMS to India with one API

The same REST API and SMPP connection reach India and every other market, with delivery receipts on one webhook and automatic fallback to WhatsApp or RCS where you enable it.

SMS API docsTalk to our team
curl -X POST https://api.broadnet.me/sms/sendSms \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $BROADNET_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"senderId":"YourBrand","destinationNumber":"91…","message":"Hello from YourBrand","messageType":"TEXT"}'

SMS to India: questions

How much does it cost to send an SMS to India?

Indicative list rates start at $0.0022 per SMS segment, falling to about $0.0014 at 5 million messages a month. Prices exclude taxes and sender ID fees; your quote confirms the final rate.

Do I need to register a sender ID in India?

Yes. Header + every message template registered on DLT before send. We submit it for you and confirm the current requirements during onboarding.

How long does sender ID registration take in India?

Typically 3–7 business days (DLT header registration), depending on the operator and the documents provided. We confirm the current timeline for your sender ID during onboarding.

When can I send promotional SMS in India?

Promotional window: 10:00–21:00 local time. Under TCCCPR 2018 the time bands outside 10:00–21:00 IST are off by default for promotional traffic, and recipients can block further time bands. Transactional messages are not blocked by these preferences. Headers are registered on the DLT platform together with every message template; promotional headers are numeric, and the network appends -P, -S, -T or -G to show the category.

Which mobile operators can I reach in India?

Reliance Jio (direct route), Bharti Airtel (direct route), Vi (Vodafone Idea) (direct route), BSNL (partner route).

What opt-out wording is required in India?

Recipients block promotional messages, fully or by category, in the preference register (SMS or call 1909, USSD, IVRS, an approved app or an OTP-verified web portal), and operators add the details needed to revoke consent to every promotional message. Preferences and revoked consents are scrubbed on DLT before delivery.

SMS pricing in nearby markets

Data: BroadNet published rate card and regulatory research, reviewed 24 September 2026. URL: https://omnichannels.ai/sms-pricing/india/