DLT Guide - India
Background: As of June 1, 2020, DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) is in place and controlled by the Indian regulator and carriers. Its main purpose is to use blockchain technology to ensure only legitimate traffic is sent via local routes in this country while also protecting end subscribers from unwanted traffic.
Who does this affect: The introduction of DLT relates to local traffic only, meaning that traffic sent via international long-distance operators (ILDO)/international routes is unaffected by this change.
Timeline:
Phase | Starting Date | Customer Requirements |
Phase 1 | June 2020 | Traffic via local routes to India can be sent only from DLT-registered Headers and exclusively by companies with a DLT ID. |
Phase 2 | April 1st, 2021 | In addition to Phase 1 requirements, Message Template IDs must be saved in the DLT portal by each Indian entity. |
Impact: After Phase 2 begins, transactions not complying with the requirements above will fail to be delivered.
Title | Pre DLT | Post DLT | Remarks |
Customer Consent | No | Yes | Verifiable digital records of all customer opt-ins are made available on the platform. Customers can also see all their consents on a single dashboard |
Customer Preferences | Yes | Yes | Consumers can also select a specific day(s) and a time band to block (or) receive. commercial communication in addition to the type of category; viz only DND |
Entity/Enterprise Registration | No | Yes | An Entity need to register with originating access provider (OAP) on the platform |
Telemarketer Registration | Yes | Yes | Telemarketer should now register with originating access provider (OAP) and no longer with TRAI |
Header Registration | No | Yes | Entity should register all its SMS Headers and Voice CLIs on the platform |
Scrubbing | Yes (only DND Check for Promotional SMS) | Yes (Promotional & Service Explicit) | Messages will be scrubbed against multiple parameters like Consent, Preference, Header, Template; and not just DND list |
Complaint Management | Yes | Yes | Telecom operators will now be responsible for complaint resolution |
Interoperability between telecom Service Providers | No | Yes | Registration details of Entity, Telemarketer, Header, Template will be shared across the network to ensure seamless view |
100% Traceability | No | Yes | Everything is recorded and shared on the network using Blockchain technology. |
Delivery Report 1. Promotional Traffic | Yes | No | Delivery status for promotional messages will not be available post DLT. |
2. Transactional Traffic | Yes | Yes | Delivery status for transactional messages will continue to be available post DLT. |
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) 2018 to regulate Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) and create transparency in the entire process. TRAI has created the guidelines to enhance control, curb any fraudulent activities and provide greater safety to the end customer.
As per the revised TRAI guidelines, The system will be governed using Block-chain technology also known as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and the whole panel entities will be interlinked with each other and the companies who want to communicate with their customers will now have to register themselves with Telecom Operators for sending SMS using their company documentation. The Businesses (Principle Entity) and Service Provider (Telemarketers like LocalMail) will be accountable to telecom operators who will be directly accountable to TRAI.
Registration Process for Businesses
In order for any company to be able to terminate messages towards their end customers, the registration needs to be done in any one of the operator’s portals.
As per the latest update from our operators partners in order to facilitate DLT, there is also an expected hike in the pricing and costing of bulk SMS from August 2020. You can read more about it here.
If you need any further Help During the DLT Content and consent Registration Process, you can reach out to our support team at [email protected]
Last modified 1yr ago