Transactional vs promotional SMS — what's the difference?
India's TRAI regulations force you to pick a category up front. Picking wrong gets your traffic blocked.
Every SMS sent to an Indian number must be tagged with one of four DLT categories: transactional, service-implicit, service-explicit, or promotional. The category controls who you can send to, when, and at what price.
The quick rule
- Transactional — OTPs and critical alerts tied to a user action. Allowed 24x7 to everyone, even DND-registered numbers.
- Service-implicit — status updates for something the user initiated (order shipped, refund processed). Allowed 24x7 to everyone.
- Service-explicit — reminders and nudges on a subscribed service. Allowed 24x7 to users who opted in.
- Promotional — offers, deals, newsletters. Only allowed to non-DND numbers, only 9am–9pm IST.
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