SMS compliance in Saudi Arabia

The rules that apply to business SMS sent to numbers in Saudi Arabia, with the source for each.

Quiet hours

Promotional SMS not allowed 22:00-09:00; during Ramadan not allowed 01:00-12:00. Transactional/OTP 24/7.

Source: CST Regulations for Curbing Spam Messages & Calls, 4.4.10

Consent

Promotional SMS only to recipients who gave prior consent; operators must honour DND; transactional allowed for existing customers.

Source: Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19, amended M/148)

Opt-out

Each promotional SMS must include a free unsubscribe option; requests honoured promptly.

Source: Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19, amended M/148) / regulator rules

Prohibited content

Blocked: gambling/betting, alcohol, adult/dating, political and religious content, content offensive to public morals or Islam, phishing/fraud, unlicensed financial/crypto offers, URL shorteners.

Source: Operator content policies / national advertising law

Data protection law

Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19, amended M/148). Supervisory authority: SDAIA.

Source: Personal Data Protection Law (Royal Decree M/19, amended M/148)

Sender ID rule

Pre-registration mandatory on all networks; generic SIDs banned; promotional SIDs must end '-AD'; max 11 chars; local SIDs require Saudi CR.

Source: Operator/regulator registration rules

Other

URLs must be whitelisted (no shortlinks); promotional SIDs end '-AD'; Mobily blocks -AD promotional SIDs.

Source: Regulator/operator rules

This summary is guidance, not legal advice. Last verified 23 October 2026.