MUSCAT: Oman’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has issued new rules governing promotional and service calls and messages, tightening safeguards against unsolicited communications and fraud.
The regulations, issued under Decision No. 1152/2/36/2026-10, cover promotional and service communications, value-added services and automated calls, and set out new obligations for telecommunications operators and service providers.
Under the rules, caller identification will be mandatory for promotional, service, value-added and automated calls. The name displayed to recipients must correspond to the commercial or legal name of the entity making the call.
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Promotional calls and messages will only be permitted between 8am and 9pm Oman time. An exception applies where delivery of a message is delayed due to technical issues.
Telecommunications operators must also provide users with mechanisms to stop promotional calls and messages and cancel value-added services. Users must be able to block communications from all or selected sender IDs or short codes and report messages or calls that continue after a cancellation request.
The regulations prohibit the use of telephone numbers registered in the names of individuals for promotional, service or value-added calls. Operators will be required to suspend services where violations are detected or reported.
Operators must also establish technical systems capable of identifying and blocking suspicious calls and messages before they reach users, as part of measures aimed at combating fraud and unsolicited communications.
They will be required to monitor usage patterns, exchange relevant information and cooperate with other operators, regulators and international organisations.
Local and international SMS providers will face additional requirements to verify sender identities and prevent impersonation, fraudulent messages and the misuse of sender IDs.
The rules also restrict telecommunications licensees from sharing user data with authorised service providers, international intermediaries or subscribers without TRA approval and require measures to protect customer information.
Entities covered by the regulations will have six months from the implementation date to comply with the new requirements.
