diff --git a/components/settings/messagingFlags.js b/components/settings/messagingFlags.js
index 601044a..98cd93f 100644
--- a/components/settings/messagingFlags.js
+++ b/components/settings/messagingFlags.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const config = require('../../config/config');
 const logger = require('../../utils/logger');
 const { Setting, SETTINGS_KEY } = require('./settingModel');
 const {
-  isChannelEnabled,
+  isDbChannelEnabled,
   isEnvChannelEnabled,
   toPublicMessaging
 } = require('../../utils/messagingChannels');
@@ -35,20 +35,46 @@ const invalidateMessagingCache = () => {
   cacheAt = 0;
 };
 
-const isMessagingChannelEnabled = async (channel) => {
-  if (!isEnvChannelEnabled(channel, config)) return false;
+const getMessagingChannelState = async (channel) => {
+  const envEnabled = isEnvChannelEnabled(channel, config);
+  if (!envEnabled) {
+    return {
+      enabled: false,
+      envEnabled: false,
+      dbEnabled: null,
+      blockReason: 'env_disabled'
+    };
+  }
+
   try {
     const db = await getDbMessagingFlags();
-    return isChannelEnabled(channel, { env: config, db });
+    const dbEnabled = isDbChannelEnabled(channel, db);
+    return {
+      enabled: dbEnabled,
+      envEnabled: true,
+      dbEnabled,
+      blockReason: dbEnabled ? null : 'dashboard_disabled'
+    };
   } catch (err) {
     logger.warn(`[Messaging] Failed to read settings for ${channel}, using env only: ${err.message}`);
-    return true;
+    return {
+      enabled: true,
+      envEnabled: true,
+      dbEnabled: null,
+      blockReason: null
+    };
   }
 };
 
+const isMessagingChannelEnabled = async (channel) => {
+  const state = await getMessagingChannelState(channel);
+  return state.enabled;
+};
+
 const getPublicMessaging = (doc) => toPublicMessaging(readDbFlags(doc), config);
 
 module.exports = {
+  getMessagingChannelState,
   isMessagingChannelEnabled,
   invalidateMessagingCache,
   getPublicMessaging,
diff --git a/utils/senders/sms.base.js b/utils/senders/sms.base.js
index 73f389d..8c1c898 100644
--- a/utils/senders/sms.base.js
+++ b/utils/senders/sms.base.js
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 const axios = require('axios');
 const config = require('../../config/config');
 const logger = require('../logger');
-const { isMessagingChannelEnabled } = require('../../components/settings/messagingFlags');
+const { getMessagingChannelState } = require('../../components/settings/messagingFlags');
 
 const toBoolean = (value) => {
   if (typeof value === 'boolean') return value;
@@ -22,16 +22,23 @@ const redactSmsParams = (params = []) => (
 );
 
 const sendSingleSms = async (mobile, templateId, params = []) => {
-  console.log('[SMS] About to send notification:', {
+  const channelState = await getMessagingChannelState('sms');
+
+  logger.info('[SMS] About to send notification:', {
     mobile,
     templateId,
     params: redactSmsParams(params),
-    SMS_ENABLED: config.SMS_ENABLED,
+    SMS_ENABLED: channelState.envEnabled,
+    dashboardEnabled: channelState.dbEnabled,
   });
 
-  if (!(await isMessagingChannelEnabled('sms'))) {
-    logger.info(`[SMS] Skipped (channel disabled) → ${mobile} template=${templateId}`);
-    return { skipped: true, reason: 'channel_disabled' };
+  if (!channelState.enabled) {
+    const reason = channelState.blockReason || 'channel_disabled';
+    const detail = reason === 'dashboard_disabled'
+      ? 'dashboard smsEnabled=false'
+      : 'SMS_ENABLED env flag is false';
+    logger.info(`[SMS] Skipped (${detail}) → ${mobile} template=${templateId}`);
+    return { skipped: true, reason };
   }
 
   if (!templateId) {