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What is Bulk SMS? Reach Thousands of Customers in Seconds

Send offers, alerts, OTPs and reminders to every customer's mobile at once — DLT compliant, delivered through direct operator routes, trusted by Indian businesses since 2009.

TRAI DLT Compliant (2025 rules) ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 27001 Since 2009 24x7 Support

Bulk SMS Pricing in India

Promotional SMS -P
Offers & marketing · 10 AM–9 PM
₹0.12/SMS
Service / OTP SMS -S
OTP & alerts · 24x7
₹0.18/SMS

Starting prices. Final rate depends on volume. GST extra. See full pricing →

Bulk SMS Explained

Bulk SMS — the short answer

Bulk SMS is a business messaging service that sends one text message to hundreds or lakhs of mobile numbers at the same time, from a web panel or an SMS API. In India, every bulk SMS must use a DLT-registered sender ID and template, carries a category suffix (-P, -S, -T or -G), and is delivered by telecom operators such as Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL.

Businesses buy SMS credits in bulk, which makes each message far cheaper than a normal mobile SMS. Because SMS works on every phone — smartphone or basic feature phone — and needs no internet or app, it is still the most dependable way to reach Indian customers.

Bulk SMS is also called business SMS, mass text messaging or A2P (application-to-person) SMS. It is used both externally (offers, order updates, OTPs) and internally (staff notices, shift alerts).

  • Works on every mobile — no app, no data connection needed
  • Instant reach — one click sends to your whole list
  • Low cost — paise per message, far cheaper than calls
  • Measurable — real-time delivery reports for every number
  • Automatable — trigger SMS from your website, app, CRM or ERP via API
How It Works

How to send bulk SMS in India — 4 steps

Most businesses go from sign-up to their first campaign the same day.

Create an account

Register free on SMSGatewayHub and get test credits to try the panel and API.

Complete DLT

Register your entity, sender ID (header) and templates in the right category (Promotional, Service or Transactional). We help you do it.

Add contacts

Upload numbers from Excel/CSV, or connect your software with our SMS API.

Send & track

Choose an approved template, send, and watch delivery reports update in real time.

Types of Bulk SMS · Latest TRAI Rules

Promotional, Service & Transactional SMS — rules in 2026

TRAI's TCCCPR 2025 amendment changed how bulk SMS is categorised. Every message now carries a category suffix on its sender ID, and Service Explicit no longer exists as a separate category.

What changed
  • Header suffixes are mandatory. Operators automatically add -P, -S, -T or -G to every sender ID (e.g. SGHUBS-S), so customers can see the message type. You don't need to re-register your header.
  • Service Explicit is discontinued. New Service Explicit templates can't be registered. Existing ones were moved into the Promotional category and now follow promotional timing and DND rules.
  • Time window is enforced. Promotional SMS submitted outside 10 AM – 9 PM is rejected by DLT (error 651), not queued for later.
-P

Promotional

Offers, discounts, sale announcements, product launches, and follow-ups earlier sent as Service Explicit.

Sender ID
6-digit numeric (e.g. 612345-P); migrated templates may keep their brand header
Timing
10 AM – 9 PM only
DND numbers
Blocked, unless the customer has given recorded digital consent
-S

Service (Implicit)

OTPs, order & delivery updates, booking confirmations, appointment and payment reminders to your own customers.

Sender ID
6-letter brand header (e.g. SGHUBS-S)
Timing
24x7
DND numbers
Delivered — no promotional content allowed
-T

Transactional

OTPs and debit/credit alerts for transactions — reserved for banks and regulated financial entities.

Sender ID
6-letter brand header (e.g. HDFCBK-T)
Timing
24x7
DND numbers
Delivered
-G

Government

Messages sent by Central and State Government departments and authorised bodies.

Sender ID
Government-registered header
Timing
24x7
DND numbers
Delivered
Discontinued
Service Explicit (SE) — earlier used for consent-based messages such as follow-ups and renewal reminders. No new SE templates can be registered, and existing SE templates now run as Promotional (-P, 10 AM – 9 PM, DND blocked without recorded consent). Read the full SE update →

Which category should you choose?

Selling or promoting something?Promotional -P
OTP or update for your own customer?Service Implicit -S
Bank transaction alert or bank OTP?Transactional -T

Sending offers under a Service template can get your header or template blocked. Rules are set by TRAI and applied by DLT operators; our DLT team helps you pick the right category.

Use Cases

Who uses bulk SMS?

🛍️

Retail & E-commerce

Sale alerts, order confirmations, shipping updates and abandoned-cart nudges. Case study

🏦

Banking & Fintech

Transaction alerts, OTPs, EMI reminders and KYC updates. Case study

🏥

Healthcare

Appointment reminders, lab report alerts and follow-up messages. Learn more

🎓

Education

Attendance alerts, fee reminders, exam schedules and results for parents.

✈️

Travel & Events

Booking confirmations, PNR updates and event invitations. Case study

📣

Marketing Agencies

Run client campaigns, or resell under your own brand with our reseller panel.

Why SMSGatewayHub

A bulk SMS provider built for Indian businesses

SMSGATEWAYHUB TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD, headquartered in Indore, has been delivering business SMS across India since 2009.

  • Direct operator routes for fast, reliable delivery
  • Free DLT registration help — entity, headers and templates
  • Developer-friendly — REST/HTTP API, SMPP, WordPress, WooCommerce and Excel plugins
  • Unicode SMS in Hindi and all major Indian languages
  • Security first — ISO 27001 and ISO 9001:2015 certified; see our Trust Center
  • Transparent status — live uptime at status.smsgatewayhub.com
2009Serving businesses since
₹0.12Bulk SMS from, per SMS
24x7Sales & technical support
APIREST, HTTP & SMPP
FAQs

Bulk SMS — frequently asked questions

Bulk SMS is a business messaging service that sends one text message to a large number of mobile numbers at the same time, through a web panel or an SMS API. Businesses use it for offers, alerts, OTPs, reminders and notifications.
You upload your contact list or connect via API, choose a DLT-approved sender ID and template, and send. The SMS gateway routes messages to telecom operators (Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL), which deliver them to handsets and return delivery reports.
At SMSGatewayHub, promotional bulk SMS starts from ₹0.12 per SMS and Service/OTP and transactional SMS start from ₹0.18 per SMS. The final rate depends on volume and route; GST is extra. See promotional and transactional pricing.
Yes. Under TRAI's TCCCPR rules (2018, amended 2025), every business sending commercial SMS in India must register its entity, sender IDs (headers) and message templates on a DLT platform. Unregistered messages are blocked by operators. DLT registration guide.
Promotional SMS carries offers and marketing content, shows a -P suffix, is delivered only between 10 AM and 9 PM, and is blocked for DND numbers unless the customer has given recorded digital consent. Service SMS (-S) carries OTPs and updates for your own customers, and Transactional SMS (-T) carries bank transaction alerts and OTPs; both are delivered 24x7, including to DND numbers.
Promotional SMS is not delivered to DND-registered numbers unless the customer has given recorded digital consent to your brand. Service Implicit (-S), Transactional (-T) and Government (-G) messages are delivered to DND numbers, as long as they contain no promotional content.
Under TRAI's TCCCPR 2025 amendment, operators add a suffix to every commercial SMS header to show its category: -P for Promotional, -S for Service, -T for Transactional and -G for Government. The suffix is added automatically based on your DLT template category, so you don't need to re-register your header.
No. Service Explicit has been discontinued as a DLT category. New Service Explicit templates can't be registered, and existing ones were moved to the Promotional category, so they now follow promotional rules: -P suffix, 10 AM to 9 PM delivery, and DND blocking unless recorded consent exists.
Promotional SMS can be delivered only between 10 AM and 9 PM. Messages submitted outside this window are rejected by the DLT system (error 651) instead of being queued. Service, Transactional and Government SMS can be sent 24x7.
One SMS holds 160 characters in English (GSM) or 70 characters in Unicode languages like Hindi. Longer messages are split into parts of 153 or 67 characters and each part is billed as one SMS.
Yes. SMSGatewayHub supports Unicode SMS, so you can send messages in Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Punjabi and other Indian languages.
Most messages reach handsets within a few seconds. Live delivery speed and uptime are published on status.smsgatewayhub.com.
Yes. SMSGatewayHub offers HTTP/REST SMS APIs, SMPP connectivity and plugins for WordPress, WooCommerce and Excel, so you can send SMS from any website, app, CRM or ERP. View API docs.
Yes. You can register for free and receive test credits to try the panel and API before buying a plan.
SMSGatewayHub has been a bulk SMS provider in India since 2009, is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 27001 certified, TRAI DLT compliant, offers direct operator routes, a developer-friendly API, DLT registration help and 24x7 support.

Related services

Last updated: 28 September 2026 (TRAI TCCCPR 2025 rules) · Published by SMSGATEWAYHUB TECHNOLOGIES PVT LTD, Indore

Start sending bulk SMS today

Free test credits, DLT help and a live person to guide you. Call 1800 102 1822 or WhatsApp +91 99079 22122.