United Arab Emirates: How to block annoying SMS ads and marketing calls – News
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This is the reality: no one sends SMS anymore, except for companies and entities that remind you of bills you must pay and medical appointments or alert you about fines and banking transactions. Those important texts, however, make up only a fraction of your inbox. Check and you’ll see a long list of unopened messages, many of them from stores promoting discounts and services.
Are you tired of having to remove all these ads over and over again?
And when those ads reach your phone line, the intrusion can be unbearable. Imagine racing against time to finish work and being interrupted by a marketing call.
The UAE authorities have seen this community problem and have therefore implemented anti-spam regulations. On top of that, the government gave residents the power to block all unwanted promotional messages and calls, with just a few taps. That is how:
How to block SMS ads
As per the guidelines specified by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), Etisalat and Du users who wish to block all SMS advertisements only need to do the following:
- Write “Bola” and send it to 7726.
- Your telecom operator will block all text messages from senders that start with “AD-“
If you find other ads useful and want to block only some of them, you can specify those as well.
- Type B [SenderName/Number]” (Example: B AD-STORE)
- Send it to 7726.
How to block marketing calls
The United Arab Emirates has created a ‘Do Not Call Registry (DNCR)’, where residents can register with their phone numbers to indicate that they do not wish to receive telemarketing or promotional calls.
Signing up is free and easy:
- Write DNCR and send it to 1012.
- Your number will automatically be added to the registry.
- To unblock calls, text “UDNCR” to 1012.
- To check the status of your number, text ‘Verify IDNCR’ to 1012.
Those in Dubai can block and report unwanted calls by visiting dnd.ded.aeOnce the form is completed and submitted, a Dubai Economy team will remove the consumer’s contact number from the reported company’s database.
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