Most pricing pages tell you the rate per OTP and stop there. What they often skip is the more important question: what counts as a billable message? If a code is sent but never reaches the phone, do you still pay? What about retries, test calls or a number that does not exist? The answers can change your bill by a surprising amount.
The page on OTP SMS pricing in India from MetaReach Marketing sets out its billing rules in some detail. This guide explains what to look for, whichever provider you use.
Sent, Submitted or Delivered?
A message goes through several stages. It is submitted to the provider, passed to the operator and, if all goes well, delivered to the handset, which sends back a delivery receipt. Some providers bill when the message is submitted. Others bill only when delivery is confirmed. The difference matters most when your failure rate is high, because you would pay for codes that nobody ever saw.
How the Page Describes Billing
According to the page, you are charged only when an OTP is confirmed delivered through the delivery receipt. It says failed messages, invalid numbers, operator rejections and intermediate retries are not billed, and that API and dashboard sends cost the same. Treat this as a question to confirm in your contract, because wording like “delivered” can depend on how receipts are returned.
The Rate Itself
The page lists volume slabs, per delivered OTP and before 18 percent GST: ₹0.40 for 5,000 to 9,999 OTPs a month, a ₹0.30 to ₹0.20 range for 10,000 to 49,999, and ₹0.15 to ₹0.12 for 50,000 to 5,00,000, with custom quotes above that. The ranges within each band are not mapped to exact volumes, so ask which rate applies to you.
A Worked Example
Using the page’s own illustrations, 10,000 OTPs a month at ₹0.30 come to ₹3,000, or ₹3,540 with GST. At 50,000 OTPs and ₹0.15, the base is ₹7,500, or ₹8,850 with GST. At 1 lakh OTPs and ₹0.12, it is ₹12,000, or ₹14,160 with GST. These are the page’s examples, so confirm your own slab in writing.
Costs Outside the Per-OTP Rate
- DLT operator fee: the page states ₹5,900 including GST, paid to the telecom operator, with the provider’s own handling fee waived.
- Voice OTP: billed per call when used, with rates not published on the page.
- Regional-language recordings: may involve a setup fee.
- SMPP or dedicated routes: may carry one-time setup for high-volume users.
So “no hidden charges” is best read as “ask about these four items before you sign”.
Retries and Resends
Every extra code a user requests is another message. If your app allows unlimited resends, a confused user can trigger several. Even if only delivered messages are billed, repeated resends add up. Cap them, invalidate older codes and add a short wait before the next request.
Testing Without Paying
The page says sandbox calls do not use paid credits, and mentions free trial credits, though the credit count and validity are not stated. Before you rely on a trial, ask how many messages it includes, how long it lasts and whether it covers real OTP routes.
Promotional Versus OTP Pricing
The page shows the same slabs for promotional and OTP SMS, but the rules differ. OTP uses a priority route and can be sent at any hour when registered in the right category, while promotional messages go only to non-DND numbers during permitted hours. Delivery to DND numbers depends on correct registration, so check current rules with your provider.
Questions to Ask Before You Pay
- Am I billed on submission or on confirmed delivery?
- What exactly happens to messages with no delivery receipt?
- Which rate in the band applies at my monthly volume?
- What do trial credits include, and when do they expire?
- What are the voice, language and setup charges?
A Quick Example
A food delivery startup sends 20,000 OTPs a month and sees about one in twenty fail because of invalid numbers. If billing is on delivery, those failures cost nothing. If billing is on submission, they are paid for. Before signing, the founder asks for the rule in writing, then adds number validation on the sign-up form to cut failures at the source. The saving is small per message but real over a year.
Final Thoughts
The cheapest rate is not always the cheapest bill. Look at when billing starts, what extras apply, how retries are counted and how much of your traffic really arrives. A provider who explains these points plainly is usually easier to work with later.
For the latest slabs and examples, visit the page on OTP SMS pricing in India. And to learn more about the team behind it, see MetaReach Marketing.