Vietnam’s Anti-Spam Decree No.91/2020/NĐ‑CP took effect on 1 October 2020, replacing the older Decrees No.90/2008 and 77/2012. For the first time, it brings nuisance calls, spam SMS and spam emails under unified regulation. It serves as the fundamental legislation governing Vietnam’s A2P marketing SMS and marketing outbound calling businesses.
The decree defines spam communications: advertising SMS, emails or calls sent without the recipient’s prior consent, or messages containing illegal content. Enterprises conducting advertising SMS and advertising call services must complete Brand-name registration in advance. It is prohibited to send advertisements to users on the DND Do-Not-Disturb list. For users not on the blacklist, only one advertising solicitation message may be sent. No further advertisements can be delivered if the user declines or does not reply.
Unless otherwise agreed with the user, each advertiser may not send more than 3 advertising SMS messages to one phone number within 24 hours, send more than 3 advertising emails to one email address, or make more than 1 advertising call to one phone number.
In addition, unless otherwise agreed with the user, SMS may only be sent between 07:00 and 22:00 each day, and advertising calls may only be placed between 08:00 and 17:00 each day. Unauthorized use of brand names and phone numbers to send advertising SMS or make advertising calls is forbidden.
The decree also imposes heavy penalties. Sending advertisements to users in the DND list incurs fines of 80 million to 100 million VND. Telecom service providers failing to implement spam blocking and complaint handling obligations will also face fines ranging from 10 million to 170 million VND. This document is enforced by VNTA. It is aligned with the new 2024 Telecommunications Law and subsequent Sender-ID display regulations, forming the baseline compliance rules that enterprise messaging services in Vietnam must observe.
