Telcos double corporate SMS rates for overseas firms operating in India

Overseas firms operating in India will be charged $0.030 per short message service (SMS) from July 16, double the current rates and almost 20 times higher than the rate telecom operators charge domestic companies. As a result, some foreign companies may be forced to look for alternative means of communication, said industry executives.

Foreign enterprises may resort to alternatives such as in-app notifications, emails and WhatsApp Business Messaging, but telcos will still earn higher revenue as mission-critical messages like one-time passwords require sending an SMS, said the executives.

The new rates will apply to the likes of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Uber, as well as foreign banks including Standard Chartered, HSBC, Citibank and Deutsche Bank.