Step-by-Step DLT Registration Guide for Indian Businesses — 2025

Choose a DLT Operator Portal

Select any one of the DLT portals operated by Indian telecom operators listed below. All portals are TRAI-authorised and sync with each other upon approval — register on whichever portal is most convenient for your business.

Prepare Your Business Documents

The following documents are required to complete Principal Entity registration. All documents must be valid, legible, and must match the business details entered during registration.

Complete the PE Registration Form & Submit

Visit your chosen operator's DLT portal and complete the Principal Entity registration form. You will be required to enter:

• Business / entity legal name (must match your registration documents exactly)
• Entity type (Private Limited, Public Limited, LLP, Proprietorship, Government, NGO, etc.)
• PAN number and GST number
• Registered business address
• Authorised signatory name, designation, and contact details
• Official website URL
• Business email address and mobile number for OTP verification

Upload all required documents in the formats specified by the portal (typically PDF or JPEG, under 2MB per file). Submit the application and note your Reference / Temporary Entity ID provided immediately after submission.

Await Approval & Receive Your Entity ID (PE ID)

The operator will review your documents and verify your business details. Upon approval — typically within 2 to 5 business days — you will receive:

• Your unique Entity ID (PE ID) in the format TM-XXXXXXXXXX — this is your permanent DLT identity as a Principal Entity
• Login credentials for your DLT panel — where you will register your Headers and Content Templates in Steps 2 and 3
• Confirmation that your PE registration has synced across all operator DLT platforms in India

How to Register a Sender ID (Header) on the DLT Portal

• Log in to your DLT panel using the credentials received after PE approval.
• Navigate to the "Headers" or "Sender ID Registration" section in the dashboard menu. Note: this section becomes accessible only after DLT panel payment is completed.
• Click "Add New Header" and select the Header Type appropriate to your SMS route: Transactional, Service Implicit, Service Explicit, or Promotional.
• Select the Header Category that matches your industry (e.g. Banking, Education, Healthcare, E-Commerce, Retail, etc.).
• Enter your desired 6-character Header name. If your chosen name is already in use, you must select an alternative unique name.
• Set the Header validity period — the duration for which you intend to use this Sender ID.
• Upload any supporting documents required to demonstrate the relationship between your business name and the Header you are registering (e.g. if your Header does not directly match your registered company name, provide a trademark certificate, domain registration, or other supporting evidence).
• Submit the application. The operator will review and approve your Header — typically within 1 to 3 business days.

TRAI Template Registration Rules — Mandatory Requirements

• Every template must include your brand name or registered business name within the message content itself — not just in the Sender ID. This is a mandatory TRAI requirement effective from October 2020.
• Variable fields must use the exact TRAI syntax: {#var#}. Each variable is limited to a maximum of 30 characters.
• As of 1 October 2024, all variables in DLT templates must be pre-tagged according to their intended purpose (e.g. OTP, amount, date, name, URL). Untagged or generic variables are no longer permitted under TRAI's variable tagging enforcement update.
• The number of consecutive variables must not exceed three {#var#} fields in a row without fixed text between them. Excessive consecutive variables will result in template rejection.
• Templates cannot contain more than 30% variable content relative to the total message length.
• Promotional templates cannot include transactional or service content, and vice versa. Each template must match the category of its registered Header exactly.
• CTA (Call to Action) elements — such as URLs, phone numbers, or application download links — must be whitelisted on the DLT portal separately before they can be included in approved templates. Non-whitelisted CTAs will cause message delivery failure.
• Standard SMS templates support up to 160 characters per SMS. Templates exceeding 160 characters will be transmitted as multi-part SMS and billed accordingly (e.g. a 200-character message counts as 2 SMS credits).
• The fixed text in a template must be an exact match to the message content sent — including spacing, punctuation, capitalisation, and character order. Any deviation will trigger template scrubbing and block delivery.

Sample DLT-Compliant Template Examples

Below are examples of correctly formatted DLT content templates for each route type:

How to Register a Content Template on the DLT Portal

• Log in to your DLT panel and navigate to the "Templates" or "Content Templates" section.
• Click "Add New Template".
• Select the Header (Sender ID) this template will be used with.
• Select the Template Type — Transactional, Service Implicit, Service Explicit, or Promotional — which must match your Header category exactly.
• Enter your template name (internal reference) and the full template message content, using {#var#} for all variable fields.
• Tag each variable according to its purpose (OTP, amount, date, name, URL, etc.) as required by TRAI's October 2024 variable tagging enforcement update.
• If the template contains a URL or phone number CTA, ensure it has been whitelisted first — or whitelist it at this stage.
• Submit the template for approval. Approval typically takes 1 to 2 business days.
• Upon approval, note your unique Template ID — you will need this when setting up campaigns in the Fivo SMS panel or in your API calls.

How to Complete PE–TM Binding Chain on the DLT Portal

• Log in to your DLT panel (the same portal where you registered your PE).
• Navigate to the "PE–TM Chain", "Manage Telemarketer", or "Chain Management" section — the exact label varies by operator portal.
• Click "New Chain" or "Add Telemarketer".
• Enter the Fivo SMS Telemarketer ID for your operator. Contact Fivo SMS at [email protected] to obtain the correct Telemarketer ID for your DLT portal before completing this step.
• Submit the binding request. A binding request is sent to Fivo SMS from your end.
• Notify Fivo SMS — email [email protected] or call +91 9310 189 890 to inform us that you have sent the binding request so we can approve it promptly from our end.
• Fivo SMS will approve the binding from the Telemarketer side on the DLT platform — this is a mutual two-way approval process.
• Once both sides have approved, your PE–TM binding chain status will show as "Active" or "Approved" in your DLT panel.