TRAI's Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) framework, implemented through the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018, governs all commercial communications in India — SMS, voice calls, and WhatsApp messages sent at scale.
What DLT Actually Is
DLT is a blockchain-based system where:
- Principals (businesses) register their company identity
- Telemarketers (automated calling systems, SMS gateways) register as service providers
- Headers (sender IDs) are registered and linked to principals
- Templates (standardized message/call scripts) are pre-approved
Every commercial SMS sent in India must use a DLT-registered header and template. The recipient's phone shows the registered sender name, not an unknown number.
DLT for Voice Calls
While DLT is most associated with SMS, it applies to transactional and promotional voice calls as well. Automated outbound calls using cloud telephony must be placed through a TRAI-registered telemarketer.
This is one reason why businesses can't simply buy a Twilio number and start calling customers at scale in India — Twilio isn't a TRAI-registered telemarketer for the Indian market. The calls will be flagged or blocked.
Agni's approach: All Agni outbound calls are placed through TRAI-registered cloud telephony infrastructure. You don't need to handle DLT compliance separately — it's included in the platform.
Who Needs DLT Registration
Any business that sends commercial communications to Indian customers at scale — SMS, automated calls, OTP messages — needs to register as a principal on the DLT platform. This is a one-time registration with TRAI through the participating telecom operators (Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL).
The NDNC Registry
The National Do Not Call registry allows Indian consumers to opt out of commercial calls and messages. Any outbound campaign — voice or SMS — must be scrubbed against the NDNC registry before dialing. Calls to NDNC-registered numbers carry penalties of up to ₹500 per violation.
Agni's campaign management system automatically scrubs against the NDNC registry before every campaign launch. Numbers on the registry are excluded from dialing without any manual action required.
The Penalty Framework
TRAI violations carry penalties of ₹500 to ₹1,500 per violation for first offenses, escalating to disconnection of telecom services for repeat violations. For businesses doing large-scale outreach, unmanaged TRAI risk can accumulate quickly.
The safest path: use a TRAI-compliant calling infrastructure (like Agni) rather than building your own international-platform-based stack and hoping for the best.
