DLT registration for SMS: a step-by-step guide

What DLT registration is

DLT registration is the sign-up a business completes before it can send commercial SMS in India. DLT stands for Distributed Ledger Technology. Under TRAI's 2018 customer preference regulations (TCCCPR), the telecom operators keep a shared record of who is sending, under which sender name, and with what wording. Every business SMS is checked against that record, and against the recipient's DND choice, before it is delivered. Messages that do not match are blocked.

Two terms come up again and again. The principal entity is the business on whose behalf messages are sent: you. The telemarketer is the SMS company that carries them. You register as a principal entity once, on one operator's platform, and the record is shared with the other operators.

Who needs DLT registration for SMS

• Any business that sends SMS through a bulk SMS provider or an SMS API: OTPs, order and dispatch updates, payment reminders, appointment reminders and offers.
• Businesses whose software sends SMS for them, such as billing, school or clinic management software. Many software vendors ask for your entity ID so that messages go out in your name.
• Businesses making promotional voice calls through registered telemarketers, which fall under the same system.

You do not need it to send an ordinary text from your own phone to one person. Sending promotions in bulk from ordinary SIM cards is a different matter: that is unregistered telemarketing, and operators can disconnect the numbers used.

Documents for principal entity registration

Each operator's portal lists exactly what it accepts. Expect to need:

• the business's PAN;
• proof that the business exists, usually the GST registration certificate, or the certificate of incorporation for a company;
• a letter of authorisation on your letterhead, signed by the owner, a partner or a director, naming the person who will manage the DLT account;
• that person's identity proof, a business email address and a mobile number for OTPs.

The business name must be the same on every document and on the form. Operators may charge a registration fee; check the current amount on the portal you choose.

DLT registration steps

1. Pick one operator's DLT platform. Jio (TrueConnect), Airtel, Vi (Vilpower), BSNL and a few other operators each run one. Choose any; it does not matter which network your customers use.
2. Sign up as a principal entity, choose your type of business, and upload the documents.
3. Note your entity ID. When the operator approves you, you get a principal entity ID. Your SMS provider and any software that sends SMS for you will ask for it.
4. Register your headers. The header is the sender name shown on the phone. For service and transactional messages it is usually six letters drawn from your brand, such as SHRMEL for Sharma Electricals. Promotional messages go out under a numeric header.
5. Register your message templates, each with its type (promotional, service or transactional) and the changing parts marked as variables.
6. Add your SMS provider as your telemarketer, and declare the chain of companies that carry your messages if the portal asks, so each SMS can be traced back to you.
7. Register any links you put in messages. Operators can block SMS that carry links not registered on DLT.
8. Send tests to your own phones before you message customers.

How DLT templates are matched, with examples

A template is your message with each changing part replaced by a placeholder, which most portals write as {#var#}. A dispatch update from a Ludhiana hosiery wholesaler might be registered as a service template like this:

Template: Dear {#var#}, your order {#var#} has left our godown with {#var#} Transport, LR no. {#var#}. Ganpati Hosiery, Ludhiana

Message sent: Dear Mehta Garments, your order 2417 has left our godown with Sutlej Transport, LR no. 88213. Ganpati Hosiery, Ludhiana

The operator checks that the fixed words match the template. If someone in the office changes "has left our godown" to "was dispatched", the message no longer matches and is not delivered. Many "my SMS are not going" problems come down to this.

Templates are commonly rejected when:

• the whole message, or most of it, is one variable;
• the business or brand name is missing from the text;
• promotional wording, such as a discount, is filed as a service template;
• the header has no clear link to the business name.

Keep a sheet of your approved templates and their IDs, and give the exact wording to whoever sends messages.

Questions people ask

Can my SMS provider do the DLT registration for me?

Providers often help with the forms, but the principal entity should be registered in your business's name, with your documents and a login you control. Then you can change provider later without registering again.

Is DLT needed for WhatsApp or email?

No. DLT covers SMS and voice calls. WhatsApp Business Platform messages use templates approved by Meta, and email is checked through DNS records, explained in our guide to SPF, DKIM and DMARC.

Once registered, can I send promotions to any number?

No. Promotional SMS is still filtered against the DND register before delivery; see our DND check guide. For choosing a provider and writing the messages, see our guide to bulk SMS services. Registration gives you a route, not an audience: most businesses use it for their own customers, and if you are building a list of new dealers or retailers, the Starleads catalogue shows 60 real contacts of every list before you buy.

This is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change, so confirm them on your chosen operator's DLT portal and on TRAI's website.