Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has introduced new rules for promotional and service calls, SMS and value-added services, tightening requirements around contact hours, caller identification, consumer opt-outs and telecom operators’ anti-fraud responsibilities.
Promotional calls and messages may only be sent between 8am and 9pm Oman time. Businesses must use identifiable sender information, with promotional SMS sender IDs reflecting the sender’s commercial or legal name and beginning with “AD”. Promotional, service, value-added and automated calls must also display the company or entity name.
Businesses cannot use phone numbers registered to individuals for these communications. Telecom operators must provide tools allowing customers to block all promotional messages or calls, or select specific sender IDs and short codes. Users must also be able to report continued contact after opting out and reactivate communications later.
Operators will be required to detect and block suspected spam and fraudulent traffic, including communications originating outside Oman, while maintaining shared databases for customer preferences and fraud reporting.
Covered entities have six months to comply. Fines can reach RO30,000 for certain violations and may double when the same offence is repeated within a year.
Source: Meatechwatch
