In a draft revision of the anti-spam communications decree, Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security has proposed that commercial businesses must not conceal the source of advertising calls and bulk commercial SMS messages. The measure is intended to crack down on nuisance marketing and spoofing-based telecom fraud.
The draft is set to replace the existing Decree No. 91/2020. At its core, it plans to establish a national enterprise identity system under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Security. Businesses may apply, on a paid basis, for exclusive identity identifiers valid for three years for use in outbound commercial communications.
Under the draft framework, all marketing SMS and advertising calls that businesses direct to individual users must carry these officially issued identity identifiers, and no technical means may be used to conceal the actual sending entity. The draft also defines compliance obligations for telecom operators: operators must deploy the corresponding technical capabilities to ensure that enterprise identity identifiers are fully displayed on users’ devices, while continuously monitoring traffic. For spam or fraudulent services, they may take measures such as traffic throttling, temporary suspension, or outright blocking.
The regulatory scheme applies to both voice marketing and the A2P commercial SMS sector, creating new compliance constraints for messaging service companies expanding into Vietnam. Relevant businesses should plan ahead for applying for official identity identifiers and must not use number spoofing or other methods to hide the sender source. Traffic without compliant identifiers will be intercepted by operators, and businesses that violate the rules will also face corresponding administrative penalties.
