Get App 
Airtel Store 
Login 
We all know how frustrating it can be when you pressed “resend OTP” for probably the 10th times and still don’t receive the OTP SMS. Probably it’s for a flight ticket payment or a for a food delivery app. Your last seat in the flight might get sold or blocked by someone else if you don’t make the payment on time by inputing OTP received via SMS. SMS service has stayed relevant through various eras starting from the 2G to the coming 5G era. Be it a payment confirmation OTP, or a 2FA OTP/notification, the SMS is a big part of our lives now.
As an Indian citizen, most of the online verification processes require users to put Aadhaar generated OTP in the government website or portal. With more processes depending on OTP confirmation, it’s quite important your SMS service is active round the clock.
If you are on Airtel network and unfortunately are unable to send or receive SMS messages, you can contact the Airtel SMS Centre or Airtel SMSC to address the issue and resolve it at the earliest. A newly bought SIM card may also face such issues. In that case, contact the customer service for assistance.
What is an Airtel SMS Center?
An Airtel SMSC is a service dedicated to SMS service queries and resolution. It is like a customer care center for Airtel users facing difficulties in sending or receiving an SMS message. These centers were launched back in 2016 and have been in use ever since.
The SMSC here stands for Short Message Service Center. You can call these centers using an SMSC number which we will list state-wise in this post.
An Airtel SMSC will help understand the root cause of the problem and solve it. Around 20+ states have an Airtel SMSC center. We are working towards expanding our centers to the remaining states as well.
So, if your SMS service is not working, you can refer to the below list to connect with a SMSC center.
State-wise List of Airtel SMS Service Center Number
Make sure you contact your original circle or region’s Airtel SMS center number to help with your query.
| States | Phone Number |
| Bihar | +919831029416 |
| Delhi | +919810051914 |
| Maharashtra | +919898051916 |
| Karnataka | +919845086007 |
| AP (Andhra Pradesh) | +919849087001 |
| Madhya Pradesh | +919845086020 |
| Punjab | +919815051914 |
| Rajasthan | +919815051914 |
| Assam | +919818023015 |
| Gujarat | +919831029416 |
| Telangana | +919849087001 |
| Uttar Pradesh | +919810051914 |
| Orissa | +919818023015 |
| West Bengal | +919932029007 |
| Uttarakhand | +919845086020 |
| Himachal Pradesh | +919845086020 |
| Kerala | +919810051905 |
| Jharkhand | +919845086020 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | +919845086007 |
| Tamil Nadu | +919898051914 |
You can contact these numbers to solve your ‘not receiving message’ query. But before that, you can also try fixing the issue yourself by using the following troubleshooting techniques.
Troubleshooting techniques to fix your SMS service
Follow the below methods to fix your SMS service and start sending and receiving messages:
Restart your phone
By restarting your phone, you are basically asking your device to connect with the cellular network again and fix any leaks from the applications. Usually, restarting the phone can fix your SMS service.
Delete unnecessary SMS
Your SMS app has a storage limit sometimes. Delete a few unnecessary messages to receive new ones. If this doesn’t work, try the next mentioned methods.
Clear cache
The cache memory when full makes an app slow and interferes with its proper functioning. You can clear the cache for the message app in the Settings app of your phone. This might help you to send and receive SMS messages.
Keep your software up to date
Often users ignore software updates sent by the manufacturer for the device. But one should not ignore them. Find a good wifi connection and update your firmware. This helps in fixing bugs in your phone. It might fix the SMS app’s bug or glitch too.
Contact Customer Care
Sometimes, your network can be the problem. If the issue persists, call our customer care @ 121 to resolve your query.
You can also change your SMS center number on your phone to fix the issue.
How to change Airtel SMS center number?
We highly recommend you try the below methods before changing Airtel SMS center number.
- Go to the ‘Settings’ app on your phone.
- Now locate ‘Network & Internet’ or a similar sounding setting in the list. Each phone has a different layout. Please look for the correct options.
- Now tap on ‘Call’ and then look for ‘Advanced Settings’ in the menu.
- You will see an option called ‘SMSC settings’ or ‘SMS center number’. Tap on it to change the number.
- Next, check if the number entered here belongs to your state or not. If the number is different, please refer to the above sheet and update it accordingly.
Remember, the process differs from phone to phone. All you need to do is find SMSC settings. You can simply search for it in the search box on the top. This will make the process easier.
We have discussed various possibilities for failure of your phone’s SMS service. One other simple but often overlooked reason can be lack of SMS recharge. It can be possible that your prepaid recharge doesn’t offer SMS pack.
Recharge your Airtel Number with appropriate pack to send SMS
You should check the same. As an Airtel user, you should know that free SMS are offered only with our Truly Unlimited Plan for a prepaid number. You need to do a mobile recharge of truly unlimited recharge plan to send an SMS.
You can also use our normal Talk Time recharge packs to send SMS at minimum charges.
Head over to our official website or our Airtel Thanks app to explore more on prepaid recharge plans both unlimited and talk time to know further about SMS plans. You can do an online recharge on the app and website.
