Free DLT Registration Support: Requirements & Steps

Short answer

Every business that sends commercial SMS in India has to be registered on a telecom operator's DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) platform. You register your business as a Principal Entity, then your sender IDs (headers) and your message templates, and you link the SMS providers that carry your messages (the PE-TM chain). SMSTAKE helps any business through these steps free of charge - including businesses that are not SMSTAKE customers. Operator fees, where they apply, are separate, and every approval is made by the operator's DLT platform, not by SMSTAKE.

What SMSTAKE's free DLT support includes

Free from SMSTAKE

Guidance on choosing an operator DLT portal and the documents it asks for
Help with entity registration, header applications and template submissions
Help writing templates in the right category, with variables in the right places
Guidance on linking your SMS provider in the PE-TM chain
If you send through SMSTAKE, we configure your approved headers and templates on your account

Not decided or paid by SMSTAKE

Approval or rejection of your entity, headers and templates - the operator's DLT platform decides
Registration fees or security deposits that an operator may charge
Review timelines, which depend on the operator and on your documents

You do not need to buy SMS from SMSTAKE to ask for this help. If you already send SMS through another provider, we can still guide you through registration or a stuck application.

What DLT is and why it is required

Under TRAI's Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, commercial SMS and voice calls in India are controlled through DLT platforms run by the telecom operators. Each platform keeps a shared record of registered senders, their headers, their approved templates and customer consent. Operators check every commercial message against this record, a process called scrubbing, and messages that don't match can be blocked.

TRAI amended these regulations on 12 February 2025. The changes cover message categories, header suffixes, opt-out requirements and operator checks on senders. The sections below reflect those changes.

Documents to keep ready

Each operator portal publishes the exact list it accepts for each type of business, so check the portal you choose. Most ask for:

The business's PAN
One proof of the business's existence, such as a GST certificate, Certificate of Incorporation, Shops and Establishment certificate or trade licence
A letter of authorisation naming the person who will manage the DLT account
Identity proof of that authorised person
A business email address and mobile number for verification

Registration steps

Register your business as a Principal Entity (PE)Sign up on one operator's DLT portal and upload your documents. Once approved, the platform issues an entity ID. Your SMS provider needs this ID, and it identifies your business on other operators' platforms too.
Apply for headers (sender IDs)Request the sender names or numbers that customers will see. Operators review header requests more closely now, including how many headers you already hold. Headers not used for 90 days are deactivated automatically and can be reactivated on request.
Register content templatesSubmit the exact wording of each message, with variable parts marked as {#var#}, and choose the correct category. A content template can't be linked to more than one header. Website links and app download links (URLs and APKs) in a template must also be whitelisted; since 1 October 2024, messages with URLs that aren't whitelisted are not delivered.
Record consent where it is neededPromotional messages go only to people who haven't blocked them in their preferences, unless you hold explicit, recorded consent. If you plan to rely on explicit consent, ask your provider how consent is recorded on DLT.
Link the PE-TM chainDeclare the telemarketers (TMs) - your SMS provider and any partner that delivers your traffic - on the DLT platform. Since 11 December 2024, messages whose chain is undeclared or doesn't match are rejected.
Configure and testShare your entity ID, header and template IDs with your provider, then send test messages before a live campaign.

What the PE-TM chain looks like

Principal EntityYour business
TelemarketerYour SMS provider
Delivery telemarketerIf a partner delivers the traffic
Operator DLT scrubbingChecks header, template, consent and chain
CustomerReceives the SMS

Every party that handles your message has to be part of the chain you declared. If your provider changes a routing partner, the chain may need updating.

Message categories and header suffixes after the 2025 amendment

From 2025, operators add a suffix to the header so customers can see the message type: -P for promotional, -S for service, -T for transactional and -G for government messages. Operators add the suffix during scrubbing, so you don't type it into the template.

SMS message categories under the amended TCCCPR
Category	What it covers	Consent and opt-out
Transactional (-T)	Messages sent within 30 minutes of a transaction the customer started - for example OTPs from banks and from non-bank businesses such as e-commerce sites and app logins, transaction confirmations and refund information.	No explicit consent needed. Customers can't opt out of these.
Service (-S)	Information for existing customers about a product or service they use, such as delivery updates, warranty or recall notices and periodic balance alerts. It also covers messages that help complete a purchase the recipient is making.	Inferred consent for existing customers. Explicit consent for an ongoing purchase is valid for seven days.
Promotional (-P)	Marketing and offers. Any message that mixes promotional content into another type is treated as promotional.	Delivered according to the customer's preferences unless you hold explicit consent. Each message must include a way to opt out.
Government (-G)	Messages sent on the direction of the Central or State Government, or an agency authorised by TRAI.	No consent needed. Customers can't block them.

How operators have applied this. Under the new definitions, marketing sent on the basis of explicit consent counts as promotional. Several SMS providers report that operators moved templates from the former "Service Explicit" category to Promotional. The same providers report that promotional templates can now use alphabetic brand headers. Check the categories shown on your operator portal before submitting new templates.

Rules that often cause rejections or blocked messages

Wrong category. TRAI has directed that templates registered in the wrong category are blacklisted. Repeated misuse can lead to a sender's traffic being suspended for one month.
Text that doesn't match the template. Fixed words must match the approved template. Only the variable parts can change.
Links that aren't whitelisted. Website and app download links must be whitelisted before you use them in messages.
An undeclared chain. Your provider and its delivery partners must be linked to your entity.
Inactive or blacklisted headers. Unused headers are deactivated after 90 days. If a header is blacklisted for misuse, the sender's traffic is suspended until its headers and templates are reviewed.

If messages are failing after registration, see why SMS delivery fails for a checklist that separates possible causes from confirmed ones.

What is free and what may cost money

SMSTAKE's DLT registration assistance is free. Costs you may still see are set by others:

Operator registration fees: some operator portals charge a fee for entity registration, and the amount varies by operator. We don't quote figures because operators set and change them.
Security deposits: the 2025 amendment allows operators to ask senders and telemarketers for a security deposit.
Messaging charges: sending SMS is billed separately by whichever provider you use.

How long does registration take?

There is no fixed timeline. Each operator's DLT platform reviews entities, headers and templates at its own pace. Incomplete documents, unclear header justifications or templates in the wrong category usually lead to rejection and resubmission. We can help you prepare so that your first submission is complete. We can't promise an approval date.

Operator DLT portals

Official DLT portals of Indian telecom operators
Operator	DLT portal
Jio	trueconnect.jio.com
Airtel	dltconnect.airtel.in
Vi (Vodafone Idea)	vilpower.in
BSNL	ucc-bsnl.co.in
MTNL	ucc-mtnl.in
Tata Tele Business Services	telemarketer.tatateleservices.com

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to be an SMSTAKE customer to get free DLT help?

No. SMSTAKE offers free DLT registration assistance to any business, whether or not it sends SMS through SMSTAKE.

Does SMSTAKE approve my headers and templates?

No. Approvals are made by the operator's DLT platform. We help you prepare and submit applications, and explain rejections so you can correct and resubmit.

Do I need to register separately with every operator?

You usually register as a Principal Entity on one operator's platform. The entity ID you receive is then used to identify your business across operators. Your provider will tell you if any operator needs extra details.

Does DLT affect RCS or WhatsApp messages?

DLT scrubbing applies to commercial SMS and voice calls. WhatsApp business messaging follows Meta's policies instead. For RCS, Google's agent settings include a field for the business's Principal Entity ID, which Google marks as required for launching an RCS agent in India.

Get free help with your DLT registration

Tell us which step you are on - entity, headers, templates or chain linking - and our team will guide you. The support is free, including for businesses that do not send SMS through SMSTAKE. Any operator fees are paid to the operator, and approvals are made by the operator's DLT platform.

Get Free DLT Support

Ready to send once your headers and templates are approved? See SMSTAKE Bulk SMS →

Sources

Checked on 30 September 2026. Rules and prices change, so confirm current requirements with the official source before acting.

Free DLT Registration Support from SMSTAKE: Requirements, Steps and What Is Included