Overview
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recently introduced new requirements for creating a Principal Entity-Telemarketer (PE-TM) binding chain. If your business is domiciled in India and uses domestic routes to send SMS, this update will be relevant to you.
Please note that this process must be completed by December 9, 2024. If you do not complete this process, messages will start to fail starting on December 11, 2024.
Background: Principal entities and telemarketers
Imagine you're sending a letter. There's a chain of people who handle the letter from when it departs your address to when it arrives at your intended recipient — including post office employees and delivery people.
In the same way, when you send an SMS, many different parties handle your message. It flows from your account to a network provider to a telemarketer for distribution to your final audience.
Principal entities and telemarketers are two key parties that participate in sending bulk SMS. Principal entities are companies that want to send bulk SMS messages to their customers. This entity is responsible for the content and purpose of the messages.
The telemarketer is a company that provides bulk SMS services to principal entities. This party is either a telecom operator or a specialized SMS service provider like Plivo.
In order to send bulk SMS messages, a principal entity must be registered with a telemarketer. The telemarketer then acts as an intermediary, handling the technical aspects of sending the messages and ensuring compliance with regulations.
What is the TRAI binding requirement?
Now more than ever, tracking who's involved in sending your SMS message is crucial. This transparency ensures that messages are legal and ethical, reduces the risk of spam, and protects consumers from potential fraud. By identifying the Principal Entity and Telemarketer involved in a message, it becomes easier to trace the origin of the message and take action if necessary.
TRAI set a rule that requires all businesses sending SMS messages to disclose the entire chain of entities involved. TRAI wants to see information including:
- Principal Entity (PE): Your organization
- Telecom Service Provider (TSP): Network providers like JIO, Airtel, etc.
- Telemarketer: Plivo
- Telemarketer Delivery: The entity responsible for final message delivery.
This binding process makes SMS messages traceable and ensures regulatory compliance.
How to meet the TRAI binding requirement
If you use a DLT number to send SMS, you’ll need to take the time to submit the chain of parties involved to the TRAI for approval. Follow these steps to establish the PE-TM Binding Chain through your DLT portal.
- Log in to your respective DLT portal.
- Locate and click on the "PE-TM Chain" or "Manage Telemarketer" tab.
- Click on "New Chain."
- Search for Plivo by name or search by ID:
- Plivo's TM-ID is 1002521547326299408
- Plivo TM name is 'PLIVO SERVICES INDIA PRIVATE LIMITED'
- Click "Submit." The status will appear as "Pending," and you should be able to track the status of your request on the DLT portal.
- After Plivo approves the chain, your organization, as the Principal Entity, will have to request final approval on the DLT portal.
Note:
- If you are registered on a DLT platform other than Airtel, you will need to initiate two chains with Plivo to maintain redundancy. This approach leverages Plivo’s direct connections with all major Indian telecom operators to ensure reliable SMS submission and delivery. To enhance service continuity, Plivo has partnered with a trusted Indian carrier for fallback routing. This partnership acts as a safeguard, ensuring seamless operations in case of any disruptions.
If you have any additional questions about this process, please feel free to reach out to our support team.