Can you text a new lead in the UAE? What TDRA's policy says about consent

A new lead has just filled in your form, and the quickest follow-up is a text message. Before you automate that, it is worth reading what the UAE regulator has published. This is a plain summary of one policy, not legal advice, and the policy has its own wording that matters more than my summary.

What the policy covers

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) publishes a Regulatory Policy on Unsolicited Electronic Communications. I read version 1.1, issued on 13 June 2022, on the TDRA website. It applies to text messages with a UAE link, which includes messages that originate in the UAE or are received by someone physically in the UAE. It defines spam as marketing sent to a recipient without obtaining their consent, and it describes marketing text messages as those sent to provide or advertise goods, services or business opportunities. SMS and MMS are named as examples of text messages.

Who the duties fall on

The policy is written for telecom licensees, the operators that carry the messages. It requires them to put its terms into their contracts with customers that send messages, so a business meets the rules through its message provider. If you use a messaging platform to follow up leads, ask the provider how it applies the policy to your account.

What it says about consent

The policy says any form of consent is acceptable as long as it can be stored and shown to TDRA when requested, and that the process of obtaining consent must be clear and transparent. The record of consent should include the date, the time and the words or content by which the customer consented.

For a lead form, the practical point is this: if a person fills in a form with a phone number, check what the form told them. A form that only asks for a quote does not obviously record consent to marketing texts. Whether a particular wording is enough is a question for an adviser.

Opt out and quiet hours

Every marketing text must give a way to opt out, and subscribing and unsubscribing must be free of charge. The policy also says marketing texts may not be sent between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. A lead that arrives late in the evening should wait for a reply until the morning if the message is marketing.

TDRA's own page on marketing messages says it takes strict action against entities that send marketing texts without prior consent. It does not list specific penalties on that page, so I will not guess at any.

What I do not know

The policy I read names SMS and MMS as examples. I do not read it as answering how it treats WhatsApp or email follow-up, and I have not given an answer on those. Check the current text on the TDRA website and take professional advice before you set up any automated messaging.

What I would do

• Record on each lead how and when they agreed to be contacted, and in what words.
• Put an opt-out in every marketing text.
• Hold marketing messages between 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
• Ask your message provider how it applies the policy to your account.

The rest of the follow-up process is in the lead follow-up checklist, and the wider picture is in how UAE businesses get leads.

A disclosure

This site is published by Web Marketing International FZCO, which sets up lead nurture automation by SMS, WhatsApp and email. I sell it, so compare it with other providers and put the consent question to every one of them, including me.