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. SGNIC will process and verify your application, which will typically be completed within two working days*. Once your account has been approved, you will be able to log-in to the portal and reserve your preferred Sender IDs. The whitelisted^ Sender-IDs will thereafter be conveyed to the Participating Aggregators on a weekly basis. The Participating Aggregators may take up to three working days to commence protection of the whitelisted SenderIDs.
 
*Provided that your submission is completed with ALL supporting documents such as CorpPass verification and the Participating Aggregators that your organisation works with.
 
^More time will be needed to register your preferred Sender IDs if they are not unique to your organisation’s brand/product, please provide supporting document such as website, screenshots, product brochures, collateral, etc.

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

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 provided the below conditions are met:

1. Only 5-digit short codes starting with 7 can be registered;
2. The short code will need to be unique to the user organisation; and
3. The user organisation will need to submit supporting document(s) to the SSIR, showing that the short code was issued by a Mobile Network Operator in Singapore to the SMS aggregator that the user organisation is working with.

This is possible provided the below conditions are met:

1. Only Application-to-Person (A2P) numeric Sender IDs to send/receive SMS to/from Singapore mobile users can be registered. Person-to-Person (P2P) SMS sent via SIM card (which is tied to a unique mobile number) cannot be registered;
2. Only 8-digit LVNs from the 8 and 9 series can be registered;
3. The LVN will need to be unique to the user organisation;
4. The user organisation will need to submit supporting document(s) to the SSIR, showing that the LVN was issued by a Mobile Network Operator in Singapore to the SMS aggregator that the user organisation is working with.

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.