Everything worth knowing, nothing that isn't.
What TDRA needs from you
A copy of your UAE Trade Licence (or a local sponsor's licence if you are an overseas brand), the exact alphanumeric string you want to register (max 11 characters, GSM-7 only, no spaces), the use case (transactional/promotional), sample message content in English and Arabic, and a confirmation that you have collected explicit consent from the recipients you intend to message. TDRA reviews the application and either approves, requests clarification, or rejects.
The AD- prefix rule
Under TDRA's sender-ID rules, promotional sender IDs must be prefixed with `AD-` (e.g. `AD-MyBrand`). Transactional sender IDs do not. TDRA enforces classification at registration time and operators (Etisalat / e&, du) enforce it in their SMS firewalls — a transactional sender ID detected sending promotional content gets the sender ID suspended within hours, with no warning. Classify correctly the first time.
The 7am-9pm GST sending window
Promotional A2P (AD- prefixed) may only be delivered to UAE mobile numbers between 07:00 and 21:00 Gulf Standard Time. Transactional messages (OTPs, alerts, delivery notifications) have no time-window restriction. The window is enforced by the operator's SMS firewall — out-of-window messages are dropped without DLR (or with EXPIRED state). BroadNet's compliance engine queues out-of-window promotional sends until the window opens; your code doesn't need to track this.
Penalties
Breaches of the UAE telemarketing rules (Cabinet Resolution No. 56 of 2024, which also covers marketing text messages) are penalised under Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2024, with fines from AED 10,000 to AED 150,000 depending on the violation, according to the Ministry of Economy. The more immediate risk is operator sender-ID suspension, which takes effect at once and bypasses the regulatory due-process timeline.