TLDR
- Mozambique’s telecom regulator INCM published new SMS marketing rules on June 2, 2026.
- Businesses, including betting operators, must now get clear consent before sending promotional texts.
- Mobile operators must offer a free way for subscribers to block all promotional messages.
- Companies have 60 days to submit implementation plans and 180 days to make blocking fully functional.
- Rule breakers risk penalties like service suspension or limited access to telecom resources.
Mozambique has introduced new regulations covering promotional text messages. Betting operators are among the businesses most affected by the change.
The National Communications Institute of Mozambique, known as INCM, published the rules on June 2. The regulations require companies to get clear consent from customers before sending marketing texts.
Mobile operators must also give subscribers a free tool to block promotional messages. This includes texts from gambling companies.
What The New Rules Require
INCM says the framework aims to improve privacy and increase oversight. It also wants promotional messages to be traceable back to their senders.
Operators have 60 days from the publication date to submit their implementation plans. Within 180 days, the blocking system must be fully working.
Once a customer turns on the block, promotional messages will stop reaching them. This applies to gambling ads as well as other marketing texts.
There is one exception in the rules. Urgent alerts from identified senders like hospitals, firefighters, or ambulances can still get through.
Marketing texts, whether commercial or betting related, can only reach people who opted in through their mobile provider. This applies across all industries, not just gambling.
Bulk Messaging Faces Tighter Controls
The new rules also target bulk SMS traffic sent by companies. Once someone activates the blocking service, operators must make it take effect right away.
This change is expected to affect how betting companies run text campaigns. Free bet offers, bonus promotions, and odds updates sent by text may no longer reach people who opted out.
The regulations require closer monitoring of mass messaging overall. Mobile operators must detect unusual activity and suspend suspicious bulk traffic when it happens.
Operators must also preserve evidence of abuse and notify the owner of the affected phone number. This gives customers a record of what happened.
If short codes are misused, operators are required to block or suspend the service. They must then report the incident directly to the regulator.
Companies that fail to follow the rules face administrative penalties. These penalties could include suspension of service or limited access to telecom resources.
The rules also cover a wider category called Application-to-Person traffic. This includes promotional, transactional, service, and one-time password messages.
All of these message types must now pass through registered and auditable channels. The goal is to make the entire system easier to track and monitor.
The changes mark one of the clearest steps taken so far to regulate how betting companies reach customers by text in Mozambique.
