UCC Compliance

1. Our compliance commitment

WakaSMS supports customers sending SMS through Uganda’s communications ecosystem. We work to align our service, customer controls, sender ID workflow, and complaint handling with applicable Uganda Communications Commission requirements, the Uganda Communications Act, and the Uganda Communications Regulations relevant to text and multimedia messaging and consumer protection.

This page is an operational summary, not a substitute for the law or a regulator’s decision. A customer must obtain its own legal advice for its industry, campaign, recipient data, and licensing position.

WakaSMS does not treat access to the platform as permission to send unsolicited, misleading, unlawful, or harmful communications. We may block traffic, require evidence, or suspend an account when a campaign creates compliance or network risk.

2. Commercial messages and consent

Before sending a commercial message, you must have a lawful basis to contact the recipient. In practice, this normally means the recipient gave consent, requested the message, or has a recent direct commercial relationship with the message originator and was clearly informed about direct marketing and the right to object.

Keep records showing when and how consent or the customer relationship was obtained.
Provide a practical way for recipients to stop marketing messages and honour opt-outs promptly.
Do not purchase, scrape, or upload lists that you are not authorised to use.
Do not disguise the commercial nature or origin of a message.
Plan commercial delivery within the applicable time limits. Under the Text and Multimedia Messaging Regulations, commercial communications should not be timed between 19:00 and 06:00 unless the recipient explicitly agreed, the timing was described upfront, or the message is an emergency health, fire, or security notification.

For the underlying text and multimedia messaging rules, see the official UCC regulations.

3. Identification, sender IDs, and contact details

Every message must use an accurate, recognisable identifier that enables the recipient to understand who sent it. Where a message is sent for an organisation, the organisation’s name should be included or clearly represented through the approved sender identity.

Sender IDs are subject to review. You must not use a name that impersonates another organisation, suggests a government or financial institution without authority, or obscures the real message originator. WakaSMS may request business information, registration documents, sample messages, and proof of authority before enabling a sender ID.

Keep the message originator’s contact details accurate and available for the period required by applicable regulation. If a validated recipient asks where their contact details came from, you must be able to identify the source through the WakaSMS account records within the applicable response period.

4. Customer and reseller responsibilities

Customers and resellers must:

use WakaSMS only for lawful and authorised communications;
maintain consent, opt-out, source, campaign, and sender ID records;
provide truthful organisation and contact information;
make sure their own customers and sub-resellers follow these requirements;
respond promptly to WakaSMS compliance requests and recipient complaints; and
report suspected abuse, account compromise, or unlawful traffic to [email protected].

We may request campaign samples, recipient-source evidence, opt-out records, or business documents. Failure to provide reasonable evidence may result in a message block, sender ID restriction, account review, or suspension.

5. Complaints and escalation

Recipients and customers should first contact WakaSMS so we can investigate the account, campaign, route, and delivery record. Send complaints to [email protected] or call/WhatsApp +256 773 550 009.

We will acknowledge complaints, preserve relevant records, investigate proportionately, and take corrective action where appropriate. Corrective action may include suppressing a recipient, stopping a campaign, restoring a service, correcting a charge, or suspending the responsible account.

If a communications complaint is not resolved by the service provider, the complainant may escalate it to the Uganda Communications Commission through its official consumer complaints process. UCC publishes the consumer help desk and escalation channels at UCC Consumer Complaints.

6. Official references

These sources informed this operational summary:

Regulatory requirements can change. We will update this page when the service or applicable rules change, but customers remain responsible for monitoring the laws and licences that apply to their own communications.