SMS Onboarding & DLT Registration

Before you can send a single production SMS in India, your business must be registered on a carrier DLT platform. This is a legal requirement set by the telecom regulator — not a WRNexus rule — and it applies to every sender, on every messaging provider, without exception.

This guide is written for a non-technical reader. Work through it top to bottom and you will finish with an approved entity, an approved sender header, and at least one approved template — everything you need to start sending. Each step explains exactly what to enter and the mistakes that most often cause a rejection.

Who this is for. DLT registration is only available to Indian-registered business entities (a company, LLP, partnership, proprietorship, HUF, trust, society, or government body with a valid Indian PAN). Individuals and entities registered outside India are not eligible. If you are sending only to non-Indian numbers, DLT does not apply — skip ahead to Connecting DLT to WRNexus.

What you’ll do, at a glance

1. Gather your documents — collect everything before you log in to any portal. This is where most delays happen.
2. Understand DLT — a 60-second explainer so the steps make sense.
3. Register your entity — your business identity on the DLT platform.
4. Choose a DLT platform — Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL, or Tata. You pay one one-time fee, once.
5. Register a header (Sender ID) — the 6-character name recipients see.
6. Register your templates — the exact message formats you’re allowed to send.
7. Connect the approved IDs to WRNexus — and start sending.

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1. Prerequisites checklist — gather these BEFORE you start

DLT portals reject applications for tiny inconsistencies (a name that doesn’t match the PAN, a blurry scan, a letter missing a seal). Collect and verify every item below before you create an account. Clean documents up front are the single biggest factor in a fast, rejection-free approval.

#	Document	What it must show	Tips
1	Business PAN card	The 10-character PAN of the entity (not the owner’s personal PAN, unless you’re a proprietorship).	The entity name must match exactly everywhere else you use it.
2	GST certificate / number	A valid GSTIN for the entity.	If you are not GST-registered, check the platform’s alternate-proof options (e.g. CIN, shop & establishment, or TAN).
3	Authorised Signatory letter	On company letterhead, naming the authorised signatory — their full name, designation, the company seal/stamp, and a signature authorising them to register on DLT.	This is the document most often rejected. Use official letterhead, include the seal, and make sure the name matches the signatory’s ID.
4	Proof of Identity (PoI) of the authorised signatory	A government photo ID — PAN, passport, voter ID, or driving licence.	The name must match the authorisation letter.
5	Proof of Address (PoA) of the authorised signatory	A recent utility bill, bank statement, passport, or Aadhaar.	Make sure it is current (typically within the last 2–3 months).
6	Aadhaar of the authorised signatory	The 12-digit Aadhaar. Some platforms send an OTP to the linked mobile for e-verification.	Keep the Aadhaar-linked phone handy during registration.
7	Consent / authorisation letter from the parent entity (only if applicable)	If you send on behalf of another brand or a parent company, a letter from that parent authorising you to register and use their brand name.	Required for agencies, resellers, and subsidiaries. Skip if you only send for your own entity.

Scan quality matters. Upload clear, full-page, colour scans or PDFs. Cropped, dark, or low-resolution images are a common rejection reason. Keep file sizes within the portal’s limit (usually a few MB per file).

Before moving on, confirm:

• The entity name is spelled identically on the PAN, GST, and letterhead.
• The authorised signatory’s name is identical on the letter, PoI, and Aadhaar.
• Every document is a clear, complete, in-date scan.
• You have access to the Aadhaar-linked mobile and an official email for OTP/verification.

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2. What is DLT, and why is it mandatory?

DLT stands for Distributed Ledger Technology — a blockchain-based registry that India’s telecom operators use to record who is allowed to send commercial SMS, what sender names they use, and the exact message templates they send.

It exists because of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018), issued by TRAI (the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India). The regulation was created to curb spam and fraudulent messages and to give customers control over the commercial messages they receive.

In practice this means:

• Every business (Principal Entity) must be registered.
• Every sender name (Header / Sender ID) must be pre-approved.
• Every message format (Template) must be pre-approved.

If a message is sent from an unregistered entity, an unapproved header, or with content that doesn’t match an approved template, the carriers block it before delivery. There is no way around this — WRNexus, like every compliant provider, can only deliver SMS that map to approved DLT records.

The takeaway. DLT is a one-time setup. Once your entity, header, and templates are approved, sending is fast and reliable. The effort is all in getting the registrations clean and right the first time — which is exactly what this guide is for.

Authoritative references:

• TRAI — Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018
• Government of India mGovernance — DLT / commercial communication resources

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3. The 3-phase registration flow

DLT registration always happens in three phases, in this order. You cannot register a header until your entity is approved, and you cannot register a template until your header is approved.

Phase A  →  Entity registration       (your business identity)
Phase B  →  Header / Sender ID         (the name recipients see)
Phase C  →  Content / Template         (the exact messages you send)

Phase A — Entity (Principal Entity) registration

This registers your business as a Principal Entity (PE) and is the foundation for everything else.

What to do:

1. Pick a DLT platform (see section 4) and create a Principal Entity account using your official business email.
2. Enter your entity details exactly as they appear on the PAN: legal name, entity type, PAN, GST, and registered address.
3. Enter the authorised signatory’s details and upload their PoI, PoA, and Aadhaar.
4. Upload the authorisation letter on letterhead and (if applicable) the parent-entity consent letter.
5. Complete OTP / e-KYC verification (email + Aadhaar-linked mobile).
6. Submit and wait for approval. On approval you receive a unique Entity ID (a long numeric identifier) — note it down; you’ll reference it throughout.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Entity name on the form not matching the PAN character-for-character.
• Using a personal PAN instead of the business PAN (except sole proprietors).
• An authorisation letter without the company seal or with a mismatched signatory name.
• A typo in the GST number, or an expired proof of address.

Phase B — Header / Sender ID registration

A Header (also called Sender ID) is the 6-character name that appears as the sender on the recipient’s phone (e.g. WRNEXS). You register one or more headers under your approved entity.

What to do:

1. In the DLT portal, open Header registration and choose the header category:
   • Transactional — OTPs and critical account alerts (banks, payment confirmations).
   • Service (Implicit / Explicit) — service updates to your existing customers.
   • Promotional — marketing and offers (these can only go to non-DND numbers in promotional windows).
2. Enter your desired 6-character alphanumeric header. It should reflect your brand (e.g. an abbreviation of your company name).
3. Attach the template/use-case justification if the portal requests it, and link the header to your entity.
4. Submit. Headers are typically reviewed and approved within a short window. On approval you get a Header ID.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Choosing a header that is not 6 characters or that uses disallowed symbols.
• Picking a generic word (like ALERTS or INFO) that doesn’t represent your brand — these are often rejected.
• Registering a header under the wrong category for how you’ll actually use it (a promotional header cannot be used for OTPs and vice-versa).

Phase C — Content / Template registration

A Template is the exact message body you’re approved to send, with variable placeholders where dynamic values (names, OTPs, amounts) go. Every message you send must match an approved template.

What to do:

1. Open Content Template registration and select the Template type / category — it must match the header you’ll send it from (Transactional, Service, or Promotional).

2. Enter the template name and the message body, inserting placeholders for anything that changes between sends. Most platforms use {#var#} as the variable marker, for example:

   Dear {#var#}, your OTP is {#var#}. It is valid for 10 minutes. - WRNEXS

3. Select the header this template will be sent from.

4. Choose the correct content type/language and submit for approval. On approval you get a Template ID.

Common mistakes to avoid:

• Putting fixed text where a variable belongs (or vice-versa) — the message you actually send must match the approved fixed text exactly; only the {#var#} parts may change.
• Promotional wording inside a transactional template (e.g. adding “Buy now!” to an OTP message). This is rejected and can flag your account.
• Forgetting the brand/header signature at the end if your use-case requires it.
• A mismatch between the template category and the header category.

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4. Choosing a DLT platform & the one-time fee

DLT is operated by India’s telecom carriers. You register on one platform of your choice — your entity, headers, and templates are then shared (scrubbed) across all carriers, so you do not need to register five times.

The main DLT platforms:

Carrier	DLT platform
Jio	Jio DLT (trueconnect.jio.com)
Airtel	Airtel DLT (dltconnect.airtel.in)
Vodafone Idea (Vi)	Vilpower DLT (vilpower.in)
BSNL	BSNL DLT (www.ucc-bsnl.co.in)
Tata Teleservices	Videsh / Tata DLT (tatateleservices.com DLT portal)

The one-time fee. You pay a single one-time registration fee of roughly ₹5,900 (inclusive of GST) on the first platform where you register your entity. Once you’ve paid it on one platform, registering your entity on the other platforms is free — the paid registration is recognised across the ecosystem. Fees can change, so confirm the current amount on the platform at the time of registration.

Which one should you pick? Any of them works, because registrations propagate to all carriers. Most businesses pick Jio or Airtel for their relatively straightforward portals, but choose whichever you find easiest to use. The important thing is to register your entity once, pay the fee once, and reuse those records everywhere.

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5. Header & template rules that prevent rejection

A little care with naming and formatting saves days of back-and-forth.

Header (Sender ID) rules:

• Exactly 6 characters, alphanumeric, representing your registered brand.
• The category must match the use-case — transactional/service headers for OTPs and alerts, promotional headers for marketing.
• Don’t use generic or misleading words; the header should clearly tie to your entity name.

Template formatting rules:

• Use the platform’s variable marker (commonly {#var#}) for every value that changes between messages.
• A single variable can hold up to ~30 characters by default on most platforms — for longer dynamic content, check the platform’s rules or split into multiple variables.
• The fixed (non-variable) text must be reproduced exactly when you send. Even an extra space or a changed word can cause the carrier to block the message.
• Keep the category consistent: a template’s category must match its header’s category.
• Avoid prohibited content — URLs from unregistered/short domains, all-caps spammy phrasing, or promotional language in transactional templates.

URLs in messages. If your message contains a link, the domain/URL often must be pre-registered (whitelisted) on the DLT platform too. Register your link domains alongside your templates to avoid surprise rejections. WRNexus short links use a dedicated registered domain for exactly this reason.

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6. Common rejection reasons & how to avoid them

Rejection reason	How to avoid it
Entity name mismatch with PAN/GST	Copy the name exactly from the PAN; match it on every document and form.
Authorisation letter missing seal / wrong signatory	Use official letterhead, include the company seal, and match the signatory name to their ID.
Blurry or cropped document scans	Upload clear, full-page, colour scans within the size limit.
6-character header rule broken	Make sure the header is exactly 6 alphanumeric characters and reflects your brand.
Header/template category mismatch	Keep template and header categories aligned (transactional ↔ transactional, etc.).
Promotional wording in a transactional template	Strip all marketing language from OTP/alert templates.
Variable/fixed-text errors	Only the {#var#} parts may change; reproduce fixed text exactly when sending.
Unregistered URL in template	Pre-register (whitelist) any link domains used in messages.
Expired proof of address	Use a document dated within the last 2–3 months.

Rule of thumb. If you’re unsure whether something is allowed, register a stricter, more specific version. Specific, accurate templates and headers are approved far more often than broad, generic ones.

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Estimated timeline

Timelines vary by platform and how clean your documents are, but a typical rejection-free run looks like this:

Phase	Typical time
Entity (PE) registration & approval	2–7 business days
Header (Sender ID) approval	1–3 business days
Template approval	a few hours to 2 business days each

Plan for roughly one to two weeks end-to-end for a first-time registration. Resubmissions after a rejection add a full review cycle each time — which is why getting your documents and templates right the first time (sections 1 and 5) matters so much.

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7. Connect your approved DLT IDs to WRNexus

Once your DLT registration is approved you’ll have three pieces of information:

• An approved Header / Sender ID (e.g. WRNEXS) and its DLT Sender ID.
• One or more approved Templates and their DLT Template IDs.
• Your Entity ID for reference.

To start sending on WRNexus:

1. In the WRNexus dashboard, open the SMS app and run the country onboarding for India.
2. Add your approved sender header and paste its DLT Sender ID.
3. Add each approved template with its DLT Template ID, matching the body you registered (including the {#var#} placeholders).
4. Once the onboarding shows Approved, you can send.

When you send through the SMS API, each message references a registered sender (from) and an approved template; WRNexus fills the template’s placeholders from your variables and submits DLT-compliant traffic to the carriers. If a sender or template isn’t approved yet, the API returns a clear error such as ONBOARDING_NOT_APPROVED, DLT_SENDER_REQUIRED, or DLT_TEMPLATE_REQUIRED.

Next steps

• Getting started — create your WRNexus account and workspace if you haven’t already.
• SMS API — send DLT-compliant SMS programmatically over HTTP.
• SMS SDK — official JavaScript, Python, Go, Java, and Rust clients.
• Configuration overview — onboarding for every channel.