TRAI DLT Registration for SMS in India
The steps to register for business SMS in India, in order, each checked against TRAI’s own documents. Registration lets you send. It does not guarantee delivery.
- Registration Stops
- 6
- Header Characters Today
- 6
- Days Before Re-Asking
- 90
Checked against TRAI’s regulation, consolidated 21 May 2026
- NotifyTech AI Team
- 8 min read
- Compliance Guide
What DLT registration is, and who needs it
TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 let commercial SMS travel in India only through registered parts: a registered sender, a registered header (the sender ID recipients see) and a registered content template. Each access provider runs a DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) platform where these records are kept and shared.
This guide follows the order of registration and says where TRAI’s text stops and each operator’s portal takes over. Documents, fees and approval times are the portals’ own, so confirm them there. It is not legal advice.
Where WhatsApp fits
DLT is an SMS rule. Bulk WhatsApp and the WhatsApp Business API follow Meta’s policies instead, so NotifyTech AI’s WhatsApp products need no DLT approval.
NotifyTech AI’s transactional and promotional SMS run on TRAI DLT with approved templates. The documentation page lists the same SMS requirements: a registered entity ID, an approved header, pre-registered templates and consent records.
DLT at a glance
- Who registers
- Businesses (Principal Entities) and the telemarketers that carry their messages
- Where
- The DLT portal of an access provider, such as Jio, Airtel, Vi or BSNL
- Header
- 6 characters today, with an operator prefix and a -T, -S, -P or -G suffix
- Documents, fees, timing
- Set by each access provider
- Every year
- Self-certify your registration, headers and templates
What kinds of SMS does TRAI define?
TRAI defines three kinds of commercial SMS. A transactional message answers something the customer just did, a service message informs an existing customer, and a promotional message advertises. The type decides what consent it needs and who it can reach, and it shows in the header suffix: -T, -S or -P.
Transactional (-T)
What it is
A message to a customer within 30 minutes of a transaction they started: an OTP, a payment or order confirmation, a refund notice.
What it needs
No explicit consent, and a recipient’s marketing preferences do not block it. It must carry no promotional content.
Service (-S)
What it is
Information to an existing customer about a product or service: warranty or recall notices, safety and security alerts, periodic balance alerts, delivery information.
What it needs
Not promotional. Plain information needs no explicit consent; a message that completes an ongoing transaction needs the customer’s explicit consent.
Promotional (-P)
What it is
A message that advertises a product or service. It must offer an opt-out in the same message.
What it needs
Delivered to recipients who have not blocked promotional messages, or who gave explicit consent. Without explicit consent, the default delivery window is 10:00 to 21:00.
What do I register, and in what order?
Six stops, in order: your entity, a header, consent for promotional SMS, your templates, your telemarketer chain, and then scrubbing on every send. The first five are registrations you make on a DLT portal. The sixth happens to each message.
Register as a Principal Entity
Register your business on the DLT portal of an access provider. The provider verifies the sender’s identity and links it to a mobile number.
- You get
- A unique ID for your entity.
- Checked by
- The access provider.
- The rule
- Documents, fees and approval time are set by each provider, so confirm them on the portal.
Source: TCCCPR Schedule I and Chapter V
Register a header
Ask for the sender ID recipients will see. Providers check that it fits your brand and is not a look-alike of another header.
- You get
- A header of 6 characters today, shown with an operator prefix and a -T, -S, -P or -G suffix.
- Checked by
- The access provider’s header registrar.
- The rule
- A header not used for 90 days is deactivated until you ask for it back.
Source: TCCCPR Schedule I; TRAI header note, 16 Jun 2020
Record consent for promotional SMS
To send promotional SMS on explicit consent, register a consent template that states the purpose and who you are, then record each recipient’s consent.
- You get
- Consent records on the consent register.
- Checked by
- The consent registrar; the recipient confirms with an OTP.
- The rule
- A recipient can revoke consent, and you may ask again only after 90 days.
Source: TCCCPR Schedule I
Register content templates
Register the text of each message, split into fixed and variable parts, and link it to one header. Promotional templates are fixed text.
- You get
- A template ID for each registered text.
- Checked by
- The content template registrar.
- The rule
- Up to three variables by default, each up to 30 characters.
Source: TCCCPR Schedule I
Declare your telemarketer chain
Declare which telemarketers carry your messages to the operator: at most one aggregator and one delivery telemarketer, unless TRAI directs otherwise.
- You get
- A declared chain, so every message can be traced.
- Checked by
- The access provider checks each message against it.
- The rule
- Since December 2024, a message whose chain is undefined or does not match is rejected.
Source: TRAI Direction, 28 Oct 2024; Press Release 92/2024
Send, and get scrubbed
Before delivery the target numbers are compared with recipients’ preferences and consent. Any link, APK, OTT link or call-back number in the message must be on your whitelist.
- You get
- Delivery to the numbers that pass.
- Checked by
- A registered scrubbing telemarketer.
- The rule
- Self-certify your registration, headers and templates every year, or they are suspended automatically.
Source: TCCCPR Schedule I and Chapter V; TRAI Direction, 28 Oct 2024
Which documents a portal asks for, what it charges and how long it takes are for the portal to say. NotifyTech AI’s documentation page lists what our SMS needs from you.
What rules do templates follow?
A template is the fixed text of a message plus the parts that change per recipient. TRAI sets the limits: how many variables, how long each one is, and that one template belongs to one header. Your portal shows the exact syntax for marking a variable.
A fixed part and variables
The fixed part is common to every recipient. Variables hold what changes per message, such as a name, an amount, a date or a reference number. Each variable is tagged with the kind of value it holds.
Three variables by default
More than three needs a recorded justification, each variable tagged for its purpose, and at least 30% of the template as fixed text.
Variables up to 30 characters
Where a value cannot fit in 30 characters, more than one contiguous variable of the same type may be allowed after the provider has examined a sample message.
One template, one header
A content template cannot be linked to more than one header.
Promotional templates are fixed text
A promotional template has no variable part: its content is the same for every recipient, and the message must carry an opt-out.
Unused templates lapse after 90 days
A template that has not been used to send messages for 90 days is deactivated, and you can ask to have it reactivated.
What gets a message rejected or a sender suspended?
Each of these is a rule in TRAI’s regulation or directions. The consequence ranges from a rejected message to a suspended registration.
Sending from an unregistered header
Commercial SMS may only use registered headers. A sender that is not registered can have all its telecom resources suspended or disconnected.
Message text that does not match the template
Each message is checked against its registered template, fixed text and variable parts. Keep the fixed text identical and put only changing details in variables.
Promotion inside a transactional or service SMS
Mixed content makes the whole message promotional, so it follows the rules for promotional messages instead.
An undeclared or mismatched telemarketer chain
Since December 2024, messages whose chain is not defined or does not match the declared one are rejected.
Links that are not whitelisted
TRAI has not permitted URLs, APKs, OTT links or call-back numbers in SMS unless they are whitelisted, since 1 October 2024.
Skipping the yearly self-certification
Registration details, headers and templates that are not self-certified each year are suspended automatically.
What is checked when a message is sent?
When a message reaches the network it is checked against what you registered. These five checks come from the regulation and TRAI’s directions, and a message has to pass all of them to move on. Passing them is still not a promise of delivery, and providers may add measures of their own.
Illustration only. The checks follow TRAI’s regulation and directions; the two messages are made-up examples.
Example A · An OTP
Your OTP is [code]. It is valid for [minutes] minutes.
All five checks pass, so the message moves on to delivery.
Example B · A delivery update with a new link
Your order [number] has shipped. Track it here: [short link]
The link is not on the sender’s whitelist, so the message is not permitted.
Header
Is it sent from a header registered to your entity?
Example APassesExample BPassesTemplate
Does the text match a registered template linked to that header?
Example APassesExample BPassesChain
Is the full telemarketer chain declared, and does it match?
Example APassesExample BPassesPreferences and consent
Do the recipient’s preferences and consent allow this type of message?
Example APassesExample BPassesLinks
Is every URL, APK, OTT link and call-back number whitelisted?
Example APassesExample BFails
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about TRAI DLT registration for SMS in India
References & Further Reading
TRAI’s own documents behind this guide, and operator portals where you register
- Read the Regulations
TCCCPR 2018, consolidated
TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations as consolidated on 21 May 2026: the rules for senders, headers, templates, consent and scrubbing. The gazetted text prevails.
- Read the Note
Headers assigned to Principal Entities
TRAI’s note of 16 June 2020 on header length and the operator and circle prefixes.
- Read the Direction
TRAI Direction, 28 October 2024
Whitelisting of URLs, APKs, OTT links and call-back numbers, and rejection of messages whose telemarketer chain is undefined or does not match.
- Read the Release
SMS traceability, Press Release 92/2024
TRAI’s December 2024 note on the chain declaration and the rejection of messages sent through unregistered paths.
- Open the Portal
Jio TrueConnect
Reliance Jio’s TrueConnect platform.
- Open the Portal
Vi DLT portal
Vodafone Idea’s DLT platform for managing commercial communication.
- Open the Portal
BSNL DLT portal
BSNL’s DLT platform for managing commercial communication.
Send SMS in India on TRAI DLT
NotifyTech AI’s transactional and promotional SMS are TRAI DLT compliant and use DLT-approved templates.