Follow compliance requirements for India

Promotional RCS for Business agents that operate in India must meet compliance requirements set by Google and local regulations. These requirements cover traffic limits, communication hours, and cross-agent promotional caps. They reduce end-user inbox fatigue and help maintain a sustainable, high-quality ecosystem for RCS for Business.

Traffic limits for promotional agents

Promotional RCS for Business agents that operate in India are subject to traffic limits based on agent reputation over a rolling 28-day period. All agents that have been created start with a low reputation by default.

These traffic limits apply to:

• Total number of initial messages sent to a specific user within a rolling 28-day period.
• Total number of unique users an agent can reach within the same 28-day period.
• Total daily number of promotional messages sent to a specific user from the combined pool of low reputation agents.

Limits on initial messages for each user

The following table shows the maximum number of initial messages a single agent can send to a specific user. The limit depends on the agent reputation tier and applies within a rolling 28-day period.

Limits on total unique users

The following table shows the maximum number of unique users an agent can reach within a rolling 28-day period. The limit depends on the agent reputation tier.

Cross-agent promotional traffic limits

Cross-agent promotional traffic limits enforce a shared daily message cap per user across all low reputation agents. This prevents message overload when multiple low reputation agents contact the same user on the same day.

How cross-agent limits work

The cross-agent limit sets a daily ceiling on promotional messages for a single user. The ceiling accounts for the combined volume from all low reputation agents.

Applicability

• Low reputation agents: The cross-agent limit applies only to promotional messages from agents in the low reputation tier.
• High and medium reputation exemptions: Promotional messages from high or medium reputation agents are exempt from this restriction. These messages do not count toward the daily cross-agent cap for a user.
• Dynamic throttling: Google calibrates the message cap and the 24-hour rolling window individually for each user to balance delivery and performance.

Operational details

• Conversation continuity exception: A low reputation agent can exceed the daily cap for a single reply. This applies when the end user has messaged that agent within the previous 24 hours. This exception preserves customer support flows and two-way interactions.
• Error handling: If the cross-agent limit blocks a message, the platform returns an HTTP 429 (RESOURCE_EXHAUSTED) error. The error message is: The recipient's aggregate daily promotional message quota has been exceeded.

User consent confirmation for low reputation agents

For agents in the low reputation tier, Google Messages can prompt users in India to confirm consent before displaying message content.

Consent confirmation flow

When this flow is triggered:

• In both the push notification and the conversation list preview, the message content is replaced by a consent prompt: Allow messages from this business?
• The message content remains hidden until the user responds to the prompt.

The flow is triggered when:

• A low reputation promotional agent sends a message to a user without a prior conversation thread.
• The message is promotional in nature.

Impact on agents

• Reputation score: Frequent blocks from the consent prompt lower the reputation score and keep it low.
• Traffic limits: A user granting consent does not override the promotional traffic limits. Standard promotional traffic rules continue to apply to low reputation agents.
• Exemptions: Agents with a medium or high reputation are not subject to this consent prompt.

Recommended actions

• Follow best practices: To reduce block rates, make sure your agent follows the best practices for achieving and maintaining a high agent reputation.
• Monitor performance: Track delivery metrics and unsubscribe reasons. Use aggregated data on user preferences to adjust acquisition strategies in real time.

Carrier-specific requirements

In addition to Google-level rules, individual carriers in India enforce their own RCS compliance requirements.

Airtel

Airtel and Google operate a joint spam protection framework for RCS messaging in India. The framework combines Airtel network intelligence with Google RCS platform-level filtering. It validates business senders and protects end users from spam and fraud.

RCS messages sent through the Airtel network are subject to the following real-time checks:

• Sender identity validation: Telco-backed business identity checks verify the sender before the message is delivered.
• Do Not Disturb (DND) enforcement: Messages are categorized as promotional or transactional. Promotional messages are blocked for subscribers who have activated DND. OTP and transactional messages are not affected.
• Spam message blocking: Business messages flagged by the joint Airtel and Google AI-powered spam filters are blocked before reaching the end user device.
• Malicious domain filtering: A multitiered threat detection layer filters messages that contain links to known malicious domains.
• Sender throttling: Messages from senders that are jointly flagged by Google and Airtel AI-powered spam filters are throttled.

Impact on RCS delivery

• Messages that fail sender identity validation or are flagged as spam are not delivered. For more information, see Manage RCS blocks and spam reports.
• Messages sent to subscribers with DND enabled for the relevant category are blocked at the carrier level.
• Monitor delivery metrics to identify affected traffic and adjust message categorization as needed.
• Ensure messages are categorized correctly (transactional vs. promotional) to avoid unintended blocking.

Airtel Do Not Disturb (DND)

Airtel subscribers can activate DND to block promotional communication, including both SMS and RCS messages. DND affects only promotional messages. OTP and transactional messages are not affected.

End users can activate DND in two ways:

• Using SMS: Send FULLY BLOCK to 1909 (toll-free) from the default messaging app. To block specific categories, send one of the following codes to 1909:

• Using the Airtel Thanks app: Search for DND in the app, select Activate/Deactivate DND, select the categories to block, and select Submit.

Jio

Jio requires all RCS messages to be classified as either Transactional or Promotional. Messages that combine transactional content with any commercial element (offer, cross-sell, upgrade, or sales CTA) must be classified as Promotional. Incorrect classification can result in penalties and corrective action.

Transactional messages

A Transactional message communicates information directly relevant to an existing customer relationship, product, service, or transaction.

The following use cases qualify as Transactional:

• Government notifications
• NPS surveys
• Order confirmation
• Order, shipping, and delivery updates
• Payment confirmation or failure
• Refund confirmation
• Booking confirmation
• Service reminders
• Appointment confirmation or reminder
• Flight, train, and travel updates
• Account statements or account updates
• Fraud and security alerts
• Customer service request updates
• Warranty and product safety information
• Customer feedback relating to an existing purchase or service
• Important changes to an existing product or service

Promotional messages

A Promotional message is intended to increase awareness, engagement, or sales. This includes offers, discounts, upgrades, and marketing messages to both new and existing customers.

The following use cases qualify as Promotional:

• Offers and discounts
• Promotions
• Product recommendations intended to drive a sale
• Cross-sell and upsell
• Upgrade propositions
• Sales CTAs (for example, Shop now)
• Cart abandonment follow-ups

Classification considerations

Classify messages that contain both transactional and commercial content as Promotional. The following table shows common classification scenarios.

Media specifications

For media format requirements (aspect ratios, file sizes, and accepted formats) that apply to India, see India media specifications.