In Rwanda, commercial SMS must not be sent between 7pm and 7am unless the recipient explicitly agreed. The rule comes from Article 15 of RURA's 2018 regulation on unsolicited commercial communications, which also requires every marketing message to identify the sender, say where the number came from and offer a free opt-out that is honoured within 24 hours.
Last reviewed: 27 October 2026. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.
Most SMS rules in Africa are scattered across licence conditions and operator practice. Rwanda is different: the Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) published a single regulation, in Kinyarwanda, English and French, that sets out what a business must do before it sends a marketing SMS. This guide walks through the articles that matter for anyone running SMS campaigns, in the order you will meet them.
Which regulation is this?
The text is Regulation No 001/R/STD-CMR/RURA/018 of 06/07/2018 governing unsolicited commercial communications in Rwanda, published in Official Gazette no. 31 of 30/07/2018. It applies to messages with a "Rwandan link", meaning messages that originate in Rwanda or are sent to people in Rwanda. A "message" is defined broadly as text or multimedia content sent by SMS or MMS.
The regulation is enforced by RURA, which also handles complaints that are not resolved by the service provider or the network operator.
What the regulation does not cover (Article 4)
Before the obligations, it helps to know what is excluded, because most day-to-day business SMS falls outside the rules. Article 4 excludes:
- communications by a public institution authorised by RURA in an emergency or in the public interest, including health, safety and law enforcement;
- live person-to-person voice or video calls;
- electronic messages whose primary purpose is to facilitate, complete or confirm a transaction the recipient already agreed to;
- warranty, product recall, safety or security information about something the recipient bought or uses;
- delivery of goods or services, including updates the recipient is entitled to under an agreed transaction;
- notices of a change in the recipient's account balance, subscription, membership, loan or similar ongoing relationship;
- information about an employment relationship or benefit plan the recipient is part of.
In practice: OTPs, payment receipts, delivery updates, loan statements, appointment reminders and staff notices are not "commercial communications" under this regulation. Promotions, offers, newsletters and win-back campaigns are.
| Message | Category | 7pm to 7am rule? |
|---|---|---|
| Login code (OTP) | Confirms a transaction | Does not apply |
| MoMo payment receipt | Confirms a transaction | Does not apply |
| Loan instalment reminder | Account status | Does not apply |
| Parcel out for delivery | Delivery of goods | Does not apply |
| Weekend sale announcement | Commercial | Applies |
| "We miss you" offer to past customers | Commercial | Applies |
Article 6: no direct marketing without meeting the conditions
Article 6 prohibits processing personal information for direct marketing by any form of electronic communication, explicitly including SMS. Read together with Article 7, it means you may only market by SMS if you meet the Article 7 conditions. In data protection terms, this sits alongside Law No 058/2021, under which people can object to direct marketing at any time.
Article 7: identify yourself and the source of the number
No one may send unsolicited commercial communications with a Rwandan link unless the message:
- clearly and accurately identifies the person or entity who authorised it;
- includes accurate and specific contact information for the sender;
- gives identifying details of the source from which the recipient's personal information was obtained;
- if sent from a phone number, includes this information in the message itself, even if the caller ID already shows it.
The third point is the one most senders miss. It does not require a long explanation. A short clause such as "You joined our club at Kimihurura" or "You signed up at shop.rw" fits inside a single 160-character segment. Your registered sender ID covers the identity requirement, and a phone number or web address covers contact information.
Articles 9 and 10: a free, clear opt-out in two languages
Article 9 requires a functional, obvious, clear and efficient opt-out facility, based on words such as stop, end, cancel, unsubscribe or quit. Article 10 adds that the opt-out must be easy to understand and use, provided at no cost, and that the opt-out statement must be given in at least two languages used in Rwanda.
That last requirement is easy to overlook. A compact way to meet it is a bilingual label in front of one link, for example Opt out/Se desabonner: shop.rw/stop, or English and Kinyarwanda if that suits your audience better.
There is a practical catch: standard A2P sender IDs in Rwanda cannot receive replies, so "reply STOP" does not work on its own. Use an opt-out link, a phone line, a USSD menu or a two-way number. Our developer guide on handling STOP when A2P SMS cannot receive replies shows how to build this.
Article 11: stop within 24 hours
An opt-out is an instruction to stop sending further messages within 24 hours. If the person says they want to keep receiving certain categories, for example order updates but not promotions, you may continue with those categories only. Build your suppression list so it can hold a category, not just a yes or no.
Article 12: confirm the opt-out
The service provider must send a message confirming that the unsubscribe request was received and accepted. This one confirmation is the last commercial-list message the person should receive. Keep it short: "You will no longer receive offers from Kigali Basket."
Articles 13 and 14: preference registers
These articles describe customer preference registers and a "National do not call list", maintained through service providers and network operators. We could not confirm that a national list is in operation today, and some compliance guides state that Rwanda has no national registry in practice. Either way, keep your own suppression list and check it before every send.
Article 15: the 7pm to 7am rule
No service provider may send a commercial communication between 7:00 PM and 07:00 AM local time, unless the recipient explicitly agreed, or night delivery is part of the upfront description of the service. Rwanda is on Central Africa Time (UTC+2) all year, so a campaign scheduled at 18:30 on a server set to UTC will arrive at 20:30 in Kigali, inside the restricted window.
Three habits help:
- schedule campaigns in Kigali time and keep a margin, for example finishing by 18:00 for large lists;
- separate transactional and promotional sending in your system, so a late receipt never waits for the morning;
- use campaign approvals so nobody can send a promotion at 21:00 by mistake.
Article 16: no harvested lists
Using address-harvesting software or a harvested list to send unsolicited commercial messages is prohibited. Articles 17 and 18 also ban supplying or acquiring such software. Buying a "Rwanda database" from a list seller is the fastest way to break Articles 7, 15 and 16 at once, because you cannot state a lawful source for the numbers.
Article 20: keep logs
Every service provider must keep logs for all services so it can deal with complaints and investigations. Logs must include, at least, billing, the time and date the message was sent and its content. If you send through eSMS Africa, message records and delivery reports are kept in your dashboard, but you should also keep your own record of consent: when and where each number was collected.
Article 28: fines
Anyone who sends unsolicited commercial communications to a consumer is liable to an administrative fine between RWF 50,000 and RWF 500,000. Article 29 allows an appeal within 14 days of an enforcement notice. Separately, Law No 058/2021 on personal data protection carries its own, much larger administrative fines, and the Cyber Crime Law treats spamming as an offence.
A compliant promotional SMS, step by step
Here is how the rules come together in one 160-character message:
Kigali Basket: 15% off fresh produce Sat-Sun. You joined our club at Kimihurura. Info 0788000000. Opt out/Se desabonner: kgbasket.rw/stop
- Sender identified: the registered sender ID and the brand name in the text (Article 7a).
- Contact details: a phone number (Article 7b).
- Source of the number: "You joined our club at Kimihurura" (Article 7c).
- Free opt-out in two languages (Articles 9 and 10).
- Scheduled for 10:00 Kigali time (Article 15).
To see how these rules apply in specific sectors, see our pages for retail and e-commerce in Rwanda and banks and SACCOs in Rwanda, or the full list of Rwanda use cases. Sender ID registration is covered on our Rwanda sender ID page.
Frequently asked questions
Can I send promotional SMS in Rwanda on Sunday?
The RURA regulation restricts the time of day, not the day of the week. A promotion sent on Sunday between 07:00 and 19:00 to people who agreed to receive it, with the required identification, source and opt-out, is within the rules. Consider your audience, though: many people attend services on Sunday morning.
Does the 7pm rule apply to OTPs and receipts?
No. Article 15 applies to commercial communications, and Article 4 excludes messages that confirm a transaction, notify an account change or deliver a service the recipient agreed to. OTPs, payment receipts and delivery updates can be sent at any hour.
What does "explicitly agreed" mean for night sending?
The regulation does not define it further. A safe reading is a specific, recorded agreement to receive messages at night, such as a checkbox for late-night deal alerts, rather than general marketing consent. If you rely on it, keep the record and check with RURA for your case.
Who gets fined, the brand or the SMS provider?
Article 28 applies to "any person who sends" unsolicited commercial communications. The business whose message it is carries the responsibility for consent and content. Providers have their own obligations, such as keeping logs and handling complaints.
Sources
- RURA - Regulation No 001/R/STD-CMR/RURA/018 governing unsolicited commercial communications in Rwanda (PDF)
- RURA - Consumer affairs laws and regulations
- DLA Piper - Data protection laws of Rwanda
- Telerivet - Rwanda SMS compliance, sender ID and Law 058/2021
Ready to send compliant SMS in Rwanda? eSMS Africa schedules campaigns in local time, blocks sends to numbers on your opt-out list and shows live RWF and USD prices on our Rwanda pages. Create a free account and test with a sandbox key before your first campaign.
