The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) 2018 with the aim of regulating Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) and making the unorganized SMS process more transparent. TRAI has formulated new guidelines to prevent SMS scams and bring safety and convenience to end users. This system will be driven by the DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology), a blockchain-based technology explained below.

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DLT Ecosystem for bulk SMS & RCS

Under the DLT technology, the companies that want to send transactional or promotional messages to their end-users will now have to register themselves with telecom operators. These companies must be accountable to telecom operators, who will be directly accountable to TRAI. The DLT ecosystem comprises five different entities: On the DLT platform, you will get the option to register as a Telemarketer or Enterprise. Any business that deals with customers and communicates with them through SMS & RCS would most probably be categorized as a telemarketer. There are 2 types of Telemarketers:

• • • Telemarketer Aggregator: They don’t have a direct connection with the telecom operator. Could be an individual or a company.
    • Telemarketer Delivery: They have a direct connection with telecom operators. Collect SMS & RCS/voice traffic from enterprises.

Enterprises are businesses that deal with products or services that would like to connect with leads through SMS & RCS to increase their sales.

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DLT Registration

You would need to register to the DLT platform via the individual operators. The direct link to the DLT portal for different operators is given below. You need to register with an operator.

• • • Airtel
    • Vodafone
    • Reliance Jio
    • Videocon (PingConnect)
    • Tata
    • BSNL

As part of the process, you will be required to submit details such as Business Identity (PAN), Business Address Proof (GST/TAN), and a Letter of Authorization on the network portal (start with any operator portal). Post submission, you will receive the Unique Entity ID that you can later use to register on the other portals. This Unique Entity ID can then be used to register with all other operators. Once you have the unique entity ID, add the headers and templates for promotional and transactional messages. Also, add the registered headers and templates on other operator portals.