The government has mandated that all telecommunication companies in the country move over to 5-digit SMS short codes, discontinuing the existing 4-digit and 6-digit codes. It is also asking all operators using 4-digit short codes to prefix ‘5′ and convert them to 5-digit codes.  

All the existing 5- and 6-digit short codes also have to be migrated to 5-digit codes by replacing the first digit or first two digits with ‘5′. In case of disputes, the DoT would be the final authority for the allocation, sources in DoT said.

This would be with immediate effect from the date of a guideline (December 1, 2006) that is being issued by the Ministry of Telecommunications and IT to all operators, telecom companies and content providers. The ministry has begun issuing the guidelines through the licensor, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

However, the government would also be providing a cooling-off period, with the present short code users would be allowed to use their existing short codes for another six months.

The move is to standardise the short-code SMS in the country, and under a clause in the National Numbering Plan 2003 issued by DoT, certain numbers were earmarked for certain services. According to industry analysts, this order could affect over 50 short codes, of which 20 are short-code-based SMS numbers.

Some of the popular short-code-based SMS services include IndiaTimes’ 8888, Dainik Bhaskar’s 7333, Jagran Prakashan’s 7272, Dial Net’s 7777, Rediff’s 7333, Business Standard’s 7007 and Sahara India’s 9090.

Source: Business Standard