Bulk SMS for Election Campaign Outreach That Follows ECI Rules

Bulk SMS for election campaign use: what ECI requires

Since an order of 28 May 2015, the Election Commission of India has treated bulk SMS and recorded voice messages used in election campaigning like other electronic media advertising. They need pre-certification from the Media Certification and Monitoring Committee (MCMC). In its March 2026 instructions for the state elections, ECI said contesting candidates apply to the District MCMC, while registered parties headquartered in a state apply to the State-level MCMC.

Under the procedure in ECI's orders, registered parties and contesting candidates apply at least three days before the planned release, and others at least seven days before, with a copy of the content and its cost. Check the current timelines with your MCMC or returning officer, as they can change for each election. We ask for the MCMC certificate before we send political advertising, and the text you send must match the certified version.

DLT setup for a party unit or candidate

TRAI's DLT rules apply to campaign SMS like any other commercial SMS. The sender, usually the party unit or the candidate, registers as a Principal Entity on one operator portal, and the registration works across operators. The fee is about ₹5,900 a year on the major portals, while headers and templates are usually free. Approval usually takes 2 to 7 working days, so register well before the election schedule is announced.

Campaign messages that ask for votes go out as promotional SMS. They use a header with the -P suffix, reach only numbers not on DND or people who gave digital consent, and can be sent only between 10am and 9pm. The -G suffix is reserved for messages sent on the directions of the government or a constitutional body, so it does not cover party messages. Senders must also self-certify their details every year.

• Principal Entity registration in the name of the party unit or candidate
• A 6-character header your voters will learn to recognise
• Templates with {#var#} fields of up to 30 characters for ward, booth and date
• Whitelisted links only, such as your manifesto page
• Yearly self-certification of entity, headers and templates

Voter and volunteer messages that work

The most useful campaign SMS are short and practical. A rally reminder with the place and time, a change of venue, or the booth address and polling hours gives voters something they can act on. Each one is political advertising, so it goes to the MCMC first. Approve one template per message type, with variables for ward, booth and date, and you can send different details to each area from one upload.

Volunteers and booth agents need a separate list. Use it for meeting times, duty rosters and changes of plan. Keep these messages operational and free of appeals to voters, and check with your MCMC or returning officer whether they need certification in your state. Polling-day reminders to voters must go out before the silence period begins. During the silence period, ask your returning officer before sending anything in bulk, even to your own workers.

• Rally and public meeting reminders, including venue changes
• Booth address and polling hours, sent before the silence period
• Volunteer meeting times and duty rosters
• Manifesto release with a whitelisted link

The 48-hour silence period and expense records

Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 bars displaying election matter in a polling area during the 48 hours ending with the hour fixed for the close of poll. ECI instructions since 2008 prohibit bulk SMS of a political nature in that period, and its October 2025 order for Bihar also named bulk SMS and voice messages. In Tamil Nadu's April 2026 poll, the silence period ran from 6 PM on 21 April to 6 PM on 23 April.

With phased polls, each area has its own cut-off, so schedule each constituency's messages separately. Spending matters too. ECI has directed that the cost of bulk SMS sent during a campaign be worked out with the service provider and added to the expenditure account of the candidate concerned, and MCMC applications ask for costs as well. We give you invoices and delivery reports for every certified campaign, so your agent can record the spend correctly.

Regional languages, voice calls and WhatsApp

Voters read messages in their own language. Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and other Indian scripts go as Unicode, where one SMS part holds 70 characters, or 67 per part when a message is split. A 120-character Tamil message is therefore billed as two SMS. Keep the certified text short, put the place and time first, and register a separate DLT template for each language version so every one matches its certificate.

Recorded voice calls help you reach voters who do not read SMS, and ECI places voice messages under the same pre-certification rule. Voice broadcast is priced on request. The WhatsApp Business API is not an option for this work: Meta's WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy does not allow political parties, politicians, political candidates or political campaigns to use the platform. Plan your phone outreach around certified SMS and voice calls.