The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India keeps checking various communication routes. It has formulated a set of rules for Bulk SMS communication. This article will discuss the latest update on bulk SMS rules and regulations.

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Guidelines for Bulk SMS

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made it mandatory for any organization intending to send bulk SMS in India to complete the DLT registration process.

DLT, which stands for Distributed Ledger Technology, is a system where each telecommunication operator in India, such as JIO, Airtel, and Vodafone, functions as a DLT portal. To send bulk SMS, the sender must register on these portals as a principal entity.

Once the DLT registration is finalized, the sender can proceed to apply for sender IDs. These sender IDs contribute to branding and enable the management of content templates for SMS campaigns.

TRAI has recently introduced a new rule regarding the call-to-action (CTA) used in SMS templates. Starting from 1st October 2024, CTA Whitelisting will become compulsory.

This means that all URLs and numbers used as a call-to-action in SMS campaigns must be whitelisted at the respective DLT portal.

In addition to the registration processes, there are specific rules for different categories of SMS:

Promotional SMS can only be sent to non-DND (Do Not Disturb) numbers during non-DND hours, which are from 9 AM to 9 PM. Each SMS can only contain 2-5 variables.

The header for SMS messages can be composed of alphabets or numbers, based on their category, and must be limited to 6 characters only.