Telegram charged me for an SMS to log in, how can I avoid this fee?

If Telegram is asking you to pay for an SMS login code, this can happen when Telegram determines that SMS verification is unusually costly for your country or mobile provider.

Telegram’s official documentation says the payment may be required as a Telegram Premium purchase to complete the login.

Before paying, check whether you are already logged in to Telegram on another device, because Telegram may send the login code directly to your existing Telegram session instead of by SMS.

You can also use a passkey if you previously set one up; Telegram says passkeys can let you log in without an SMS code.

This is the information we have, but if you have more insights from your experience, please share in the comments.