SMS Registry

Under the Full SSIR Regime, all organisations wishing to send SMS messages to Singapore mobile numbers must register any alphanumeric Sender IDs that the organisations use. From 31 October 2022 to 30 January 2023, organisations can create an account and reserve their Sender IDs via the SSIR Portal. Reservation of Sender IDs will be on a first-come-first-served basis.

From 31 January 2023 onwards, when the Full SSIR Regime kicks in, all non-registered Sender IDs will be marked as “Likely-SCAM” as a default for a transition period of 6 months. Thereafter, messages with such non-registered Sender IDs will be blocked and not delivered to end-users.

You will need to create an account on the SSIR portal. After your account is created, SGNIC will process your application. Once your account has been approved, your Admin account holder will receive an email notification. You will thereafter be able to log-in to the portal and reserve your preferred Sender IDs. The Admin account holder in the portal will be able to create other User accounts for your organisation.

All Organisations that send SMS with Sender IDs must first present a valid identification, i.e., the local unique entity number (“UEN”), as issued by relevant government agencies in Singapore. Organisations with the valid identification (i.e., the UEN) can then register with the SSIR, and protect the Sender IDs they wish to use when sending SMS to Singapore mobile users.
 
Foreign-based businesses can obtain a UEN by registering with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”). A foreign business can either register as local subsidiary or register as a foreign branch office. Foreign-based businesses can then register for Sender IDs with SSIR via their local subsidiary or foreign branch office as long as the local subsidiary/ foreign branch office can present a valid UEN. Companies registered with ACRA will have to comply with the statutory and disclosure requirements of the Companies Act. 

A Letter of Authorisation (LOA) can be issued by the Singapore-registered subsidiary/foreign branch office to authorise other overseas branch offices, which need to send SMS with SSIR registered Sender IDs on the local subsidiary/foreign branch office’s behalf. The foreign-based business will need to provide the completed LOA to the participating aggregator engaged for the delivery of the SMS to Singapore mobile users. The LOA template for affiliates can be downloaded here.

Other non-business Organisations (e.g., charity organisation, societies, religious bodies) can also register with the relevant agencies that will issue UEN to these specific types of organisations. 

Please refer to the SSIR User Agreement

SGNIC will allow companies time to transition to the Full SSIR Regime. Reservation of Sender IDs for the Full SSIR Regime will be at no cost from 31 October 2022 to 30 January 2023. SSIR will commence billing organisations for their setup fee and Sender IDs from 1 February 2023 onwards, where an invoice will be emailed to the registered user organisation’s designated billing contact.

Due to the large volume of user organisations who will be onboard the SSIR, SGNIC will not be able to register itself in your organisation’s finance/vendor/billing portal.

Participating Aggregators are SMS Aggregators licensed by the Infocommunications Media Development Authority (IMDA) to undertake the delivery of SMSes with Sender IDs registered with SGNIC.  They are listed here 

Only Participating Aggregators (PAs) can handle registered whitelist Sender IDs. A PA must be licensed by IMDA. More information on IMDA’s application procedures and license criteria can be found at Services-Based Operations (SBO) Licence - Infocomm Media Development Authority (imda.gov.sg). You can reach out to SGNIC at [email protected] if your Aggregator is not one of the PAs. SGNIC can work with you to onboard them. Alternatively, if your Aggregator is not keen to participate in the Registry, you may have to reroute your traffic through other PAs to ensure that the whitelist protection works correctly.

Each Sender ID cannot exceed 11 characters (including spaces, underscores or hyphens), cannot contain Chinese or Cyrillic characters, and should not be generic in nature. 

This is possible if the shortcode is used to communicate to the public (i.e., not internally within the organisation) and the shortcode is applied across all 4 Mobile Network Operators.

You can delete your submitted Sender ID via the portal and resubmit the correct Sender ID. Alternatively, you could reach out to SGNIC at [email protected].

Any whitelisting protection by the Registry will be applied to Singapore mobile numbers only. Organisations can choose to deliver such SMS messages carrying registered Sender IDs to foreign mobile numbers. However, foreign recipients may still receive SMS which spoof your Sender ID, if the messages pass through non-participating aggregators.

You should engage your SMS aggregator to investigate the issue. You may wish to keep the Registry in the loop when you check with your aggregator.

An organisation may authorise a representative to send SMS with the organisation’s registered Sender ID on its behalf. For example, a marketing firm is appointed by an organisation to run a marketing campaign for the organisation. To authorise the representative to send such SMS with the registered Sender ID on the organisation’s behalf, a  Letter of Authorisation (LOA) provided by the organisation who registered that Sender ID is required. The representative will need to provide the LOA to the participating aggregator engaged for the sending of the SMS. 

You can download the LOA template for representative here.