Oman Promotional Calls Face New Restrictions
Oman has introduced new rules aimed at reducing unwanted promotional calls and messages while giving consumers greater control over marketing communications.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) issued a new regulation covering promotional calls, service messages and value-added services. The rules are designed to strengthen consumer protection, improve data privacy and reduce intrusive or fraudulent communications.
Under the new rules, Oman promotional calls and messages can only be sent between 8am and 9pm Oman time. This means businesses will face limits on contacting customers during late-night and early-morning hours.
Companies must also make their identity clear. Promotional SMS sender IDs must reflect the company’s legal or commercial name, while callers must display the name of the organisation making the call.
Consumers Can Block Promotional Calls
The new rules give residents a clearer way to stop unwanted marketing communications. Telecom operators must provide mechanisms allowing customers to block promotional calls and messages.
Users can choose to stop communications from all senders or from specific sender IDs and short codes. Customers can also report businesses that continue contacting them after they have opted out. Operators must maintain a unified system to process these requests.
Stronger Protection Against Fraud
The TRA is also requiring telecom operators to strengthen systems for detecting suspicious calls and messages.
Operators must work to identify and block fraudulent or intrusive communications, including some traffic originating outside Oman. The regulations also introduce stronger requirements around sender verification and protection of customer information.
Businesses covered by the regulation have six months to bring their operations into compliance. Certain violations can result in fines of up to RO30,000, with higher penalties possible for repeated offences.
The changes are expected to give consumers more control over marketing communications while pushing telecom operators and businesses to adopt stronger safeguards against spam and fraud.
