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SMS Codes Decoding.

The document discusses SMS codes that are now being prefixed to messages from banks and service providers. The first character indicates the service provider and the second character indicates the location where the message originated. For example, an SMS code of "AT-HDFCBANK" would mean the message came from HDFC Bank through Airtel mobile services and was sent from Tamil Nadu. These codes were introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to curb unsolicited commercial communication and help enforce the National Do Not Call registry.

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DESH RAJ BHANDARI
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478 views3 pages

SMS Codes Decoding.

The document discusses SMS codes that are now being prefixed to messages from banks and service providers. The first character indicates the service provider and the second character indicates the location where the message originated. For example, an SMS code of "AT-HDFCBANK" would mean the message came from HDFC Bank through Airtel mobile services and was sent from Tamil Nadu. These codes were introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to curb unsolicited commercial communication and help enforce the National Do Not Call registry.

Uploaded by

DESH RAJ BHANDARI
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SMS CODES

DECODING

DESH RAJ BHANDARI


Email – [email protected]
Recently, from almost a month SMSs from Banks, Service Providers, Companies have started
prefixing something like ID, AT, VK…etc. What’s all this after all!!? Here I am to explain you
what it is! Normally these SMSs originates from a Bulk SMS provider where you can use 11
digit Alpha-Numeric characters as "Sender". But there were some security risks in this method. I
was able to give a phone number as "Sender" & it appears as that person at the recipient end.
Basically there was a chance to send SMSs as a different person! I was actually using this to fool
my friends.

But the new TRAI regulation insisted bulk SMS providers to restrict the "Sender ID" to 8
characters. Other three characters should be used to specify who is the service provider & where
it’s originated from. Say for example: HDFCBANK sends an SMS to you using bulk SMS
provider located at Tamil Nadu which uses Airtel. You will receive it as AT-HDFCBANK. First
character specifies which service provider the message is being originated & the second
character specifies from which location it’s originated. Here is the table which has details of
these SMS codes:

Service Provider Codes:

Service Provider Code


Aircel, Dishnet Wireless D
Bharti Airtel A
BSNL B
BPL Mobile/Loop Telecom L
Datacom Solutions C
HFCL Infotel H
Idea Cellular I
MTNL M
Reliance Communications R
Reliance Telecom E
S tel S
Shyam Telecom Y
Spice Telecom P
Swan Telecom W
Tata Teleservices T
Unitech Group U
Vodafone Group V
Service Area Code
Andhra Pradesh A
Assam S
Bihar B
Delhi D
Gujarat G
Haryana H
Himachal Pradesh I
Jammu & Kashmir J
Karnataka X
Kerala L
Kolkata K
Madhya Pradesh Y
Maharashtra Z
Mumbai M
North East N
Orissa O
Punjab P
Rajasthan R
Tamil Nadu T
UP-East E
UP-West W
West Bengal V

So, combination of these two constitutes the first two digit of? Sender? Followed by an hyphen (-
) & actual sender name.

The codes were introduced by TRAI to curb Unsolicited Commercial Communication conducted
by some miscreant Bulk SMS Providers and to effectively enforce the NDNC.
With these codes implemented, subscribers can now actually trace out the Sender ID/Bulk SMS
Aggregator in India and the Mobile Operator can take suitable action.

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