Quick answer
Find out how far the message travels before you change any setting. Ask someone to text you: if even that SMS fails, the trouble is your SIM, plan or signal, so check validity in your operator’s app, recharge and restart. If ordinary texts arrive but codes don’t, look in Spam & blocked (Google Messages) or Unknown Senders (iPhone) and check your default SMS app and free storage. If only one bank or app never delivers, ask that company for another way to verify, because the fault is on its side.
In this guide9 sections
- Four quick tests that show where the code is stuck
- No text reaches the number at all
- Normal texts arrive, but the codes don’t
- Two SIMs, UPI apps and the number on file
- Does DND block codes? TRAI’s 2026 rules explained
- One company’s codes never come
- Raising it with your operator
- Other questions about missing codes
- Where these facts come from
Four quick tests that show where the code is stuck
Each test takes a minute or two and rules out a whole group of causes. Do them in this order and you will know which section of this guide to read next.
| Quick test | What you see | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| A friend on another network sends you a plain SMS | It never turns up | The number can’t receive texts at all. Start with the SIM and plan checks. |
| Same test | It turns up, yet no company’s code does | Something on the handset is catching business senders. Check the filtered folders. |
| You request a code from a second service, such as your operator’s own app login | That code lands; the first one never does | The first sender’s set-up is the likely culprit. |
| You move the SIM to another handset and try again | The code appears there | An app or setting on your own phone is hiding it. |
| You check the mobile number saved with the bank or app | It is an old number or has a wrong digit | Update it with the company. No phone setting can fix this. |
At the counter: Most OTP complaints that reach us at Mobivault turn out to be one of two things. Either the prepaid plan has expired, which can stop texts coming in, or the code did reach the phone and was sorted away as spam or into the list of unknown senders. Rule those two out first.
No text reaches the number at all
If even a friend’s message fails, nothing is getting through to the phone, so filters and DND don’t matter yet. Work through these in order.
- Look at the plan’s end date. Open your operator’s app (Airtel Thanks, MyJio, Vi App or BSNL Selfcare) and check when the current pack expires. Google’s troubleshooting for Messages tells you to check that your plan or balance covers sending and receiving texts, so recharge first if the pack has run out.
- Make the phone re-register. Turn Airplane mode on, wait a few seconds and turn it off. If the status bar shows no bars or says emergency calls only, no SMS can land until the signal comes back.
- Restart and ask for a single new code. Then give it a couple of minutes. If you do ask again, type in only the latest code you receive.
- Reseat the SIM. Switch off, take the SIM out, look for damage on the card and tray, and put it back. If the same SIM gets codes in another handset, the fault is in yours, so jump to the next section.
Weak signal indoors but strong Wi-Fi? Airtel says its Wi-Fi Calling handles SMS and MMS as well as voice, and BSNL describes its VoWiFi service as carrying both calls and messages. Our guide to Wi-Fi calling on Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL shows where that switch lives on each phone.
Note: Keeping a second number just for bank codes? TRAI’s Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, issued in September 2026, oblige operators to offer a pack with only voice and SMS for every validity of 30 days or less that they sell with data, plus at least one pack that renews on the same date each month. The rules take effect 30 days after publication in the Gazette, so look for these cheaper packs in your operator’s app.
Normal texts arrive, but the codes don’t
In this situation the code has often reached the phone and been put somewhere you don’t usually look. Messaging apps now sort business senders by themselves, so search their filtered folders before you touch anything else.
| Messages app | Where a filtered code ends up | How to recover it |
|---|---|---|
| Google Messages (most Android phones) | The Spam & blocked folder | Tap your profile picture at the top right and open Spam & blocked (some versions keep it under the ⋮ menu). Open the conversation and unblock the sender. If a real code carries a suspected-spam warning, tap Report not spam. The filter itself lives under profile picture › Messages settings › Protection & Safety › Spam and scam protection. |
| Samsung Messages (Galaxy phones) | Blocked messages | Go to ⋮ (More options) › Settings › Block numbers and spam, look through what was blocked and take the sender off the list. |
| Messages on iPhone (iOS 26 and later) | The Unknown Senders filter, or Transactions if Text Message Filter is on | Tap the Filters button above your conversations, pick Unknown Senders (or Transactions), open the message and tap Mark as Known. |
| A third-party SMS app set as the default | That app’s own spam or block tab | Check that tab, or make the phone’s built-in messaging app the default for now and request the code again. |
On iPhone: why a code seems to vanish later
In iOS 26 and later, the Screen Unknown Senders setting sends texts from numbers you haven’t dealt with into a separate list. Apple says it is off by default but turns on by itself if you had Filter Unknown Senders enabled in iOS 18. Alerts for Time Sensitive messages, such as verification codes, stay on by default, and in India you can choose which unknown-sender types may alert you: Time Sensitive, Personal, Transactions or Promotions.
One detail catches people out. A message you let through stays in the main conversation list for eight hours and then moves to Unknown Senders, so a code you saw in the morning can seem to be gone by evening. The controls sit under Settings › Apps › Messages › Unknown Senders.
On Android: default app, storage and cache
- Default texting app. Google’s help asks you to confirm that Google Messages is set as the default texting app. On most phones the choice is under Settings › Apps › Default apps › SMS app. If a caller-ID or other third-party app holds that role, its own filters decide what you see.
- Free space. Google Messages can show a warning that it may not send or receive until more space is available. Delete large videos or old threads, then restart.
- Cache. On a Pixel, go to Settings › Apps › See all apps, choose your messaging app, then Storage and cache › Clear cache. Other brands use similar labels.
Warning: Tap Clear cache, not Clear storage, unless you are ready to lose the app’s data. Google notes that clearing storage permanently deletes everything the app has stored.
Two SIMs, UPI apps and the number on file
A bank or app always sends its code to the number registered with it. Which SIM you’ve made the default for calls or data makes no difference, but both SIMs must be switched on and have signal. If one SIM keeps losing signal, switch the other off briefly and ask for the code again.
UPI apps work the other way round. During set-up they send a verification SMS from your phone, so the bank-linked SIM must be the one sending it. Google Pay’s help says the number you text from must match the one linked to your bank account, and if your phone asks which SIM to use every time, you should make the bank-linked SIM the primary one. It flags two traps: NPCI allows only three verification attempts in 24 hours, after which the account is blocked for the next 24 hours, and some recharge packs don’t include outgoing SMS.
If codes keep going to a number you have given up, the fix lies with the company, not your handset. Update the registered mobile number through the bank’s own channels. And if the phone holding that SIM was lost or stolen, have the SIM blocked by your operator and then follow our walkthrough on blocking a stolen phone through Sanchar Saathi.
Does DND block codes? TRAI’s 2026 rules explained
Not by design. Do Not Disturb preferences are aimed at promotions. TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, notified on 18 September 2026, state that the BLOCK PROMO option stops promotional messages in every category but does not block transactional, service or government messages. TRAI also kept those three types free of delivery time limits, because they are often urgent.
The same amendment retires FULLY BLOCK, the stricter option. Most of the new rules apply 30 days after publication in the Gazette, and operators then have 15 days to move every FULLY BLOCK registration across to BLOCK PROMO. You don’t need to do anything yourself.
Where a preference can still interfere is a mistake by the sender. Blocking works on the category a business chose when it registered its message template, so a code wrongly registered as promotional can be held back for anyone who blocks promotions. Only the sender can correct that.
To check or change your own choice, send BLOCK PROMO as an SMS to 1909, call 1909 and follow the prompts, or use the TRAI DND app or your operator’s app. For broader protection, our guide on how to stop spam calls and messages in India covers filters and reporting.
What the letter at the end of a sender name means
TRAI’s February 2025 amendment made operators add a suffix to business SMS headers: -P for promotional, -S for service, -T for transactional and -G for government. A bank’s payment code normally carries -T. The 2026 amendment classes OTPs for app logins, password resets and two-factor checks as service messages, so those can show -S. Commercial SMS may only go out from registered headers, which makes a “bank OTP” from an ordinary 10-digit mobile number a red flag.
One company’s codes never come
When everyone else’s codes arrive, the problem sits in that one company’s messaging set-up, and nothing on your phone can reach it. Businesses in India register their headers and message templates with the operators and declare the route their SMS take. TRAI says traffic sent through unregistered routes has been rejected since 11 December 2024, and it lists URL whitelisting among its anti-spam measures, so a message carrying an unapproved link can be stopped too. TRAI’s position is that this traceability system doesn’t slow delivery.
- Look on the OTP screen for another route: a phone-call OTP, an emailed code or a prompt inside the company’s own app.
- See what your bank’s app offers. RBI’s Authentication Mechanisms for Digital Payment Transactions Directions, 2025, which banks had to follow by 1 April 2026, encourage new ways to authenticate while keeping SMS OTP as one of them.
- Tell the company the time of the attempt, your operator, and that other services’ codes do reach you. Only the sender can repair its registration.
- Never read a code out to someone who calls you, whoever they claim to be.
Raising it with your operator
If even plain SMS still fail after all this, contact your operator and ask them to check text service on your connection.
| Operator | Short codes from your own SIM | From any other phone | Self-care app |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jio | 199 for queries, 198 for complaints, 1991 for plans and validity | 1800-889-9999 | MyJio |
| Airtel | 121 for queries, 198 for complaints | Circle-wise numbers listed on airtel.in | Airtel Thanks |
| Vi | 199 for queries, 198 for complaints | Circle-wise numbers listed on myvi.in | Vi App |
| BSNL | 1503 | 1800-180-1503 | BSNL Selfcare |
Other questions about missing codes
A code showed up on my iPhone and now I can’t find it. Where did it go?
Look in the Unknown Senders filter. A message from an unknown sender that is allowed to notify you stays in the main list for eight hours, then Messages moves it there. Mark the sender as known if you want its future texts kept in the main list.
Does an OTP need mobile data or Wi-Fi to arrive?
No. An ordinary SMS travels over the mobile network, so a code can arrive with mobile data switched off, as long as the SIM has signal and an active plan. The exception is a room with no usable signal at all: there, texts depend on your operator’s Wi-Fi calling service handling SMS.
Should I switch DND off completely to get my codes back?
There’s no need. BLOCK PROMO doesn’t touch transactional, service or government messages, so dropping it would only let promotions back in. If one sender’s code is still held up, ask that sender for another way to verify you.
I received an OTP I never asked for. Is my account at risk?
Someone may be trying to sign in with your number, so share the code with nobody and change that account’s password if you’re worried. You can report suspected fraud calls and texts through Chakshu on the Sanchar Saathi portal. If money has already been lost, call the cyber crime helpline 1930 or file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.
The bank’s screen says “OTP sent”. Why didn’t I get it?
That message only confirms that the bank’s system issued the code. Delivery can still fail further along: the SMS can be rejected if the sender’s route or template isn’t properly registered, or it can reach you and land in a filtered folder. If codes from other services arrive, give the bank the time of your attempt and ask it to check.
What to do now: Work from the outside in. Confirm the number on file and your plan, rescue the code from any filtered folder, sort out SIM settings, and only then look at DND or chase the sender. If ordinary texts still fail after that, your operator has to check the connection.
Where these facts come from
- TRAI: Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026
- TRAI: Telecom Consumers Protection (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2026
- TRAI Press Release No. 11/2025: header suffixes and other changes to the spam rules
- TRAI Press Release No. 92/2024: traceability of commercial SMS
- TRAI: ways to register or change your preferences
- Apple Support: conversations from unknown senders in Messages · iPhone User Guide: screen and filter text messages
- Google Messages Help: spam and blocked conversations · spam protection · problems sending or receiving
- Pixel Phone Help: clearing an app’s cache or storage
- Samsung support: using the Samsung Messages app
- Google Pay Help (India): fixing SMS verification when adding a bank account
- RBI press release, 25 September 2025: authentication mechanisms for digital payments
- Airtel Wi-Fi Calling FAQs · PIB: BSNL’s nationwide VoWiFi launch
- Jio help: numbers for queries and complaints · Airtel contact page · Vi customer care numbers · BSNL customer care
- Sanchar Saathi: Chakshu reporting and help
All links were checked on 29 October 2026.
