Airtel DLT Registration

1. The portal has moved

Most Airtel DLT guides still send you to DLT Connect. On 29 October 2026 both old hostnames redirected to the new platform:

If an old bookmark or an integration throws a certificate warning, that is the reason. Update it to the new address.

2. Fees and renewal

Airtel describes the fee in three places:

• The registration form field is labelled "REGISTRATION FEE [INR 5,000 + GST]", with "This fee is non-refundable."
• A notice reads: "New Registration charges of Rs.5900/- for Enterprise customers will now be applicable post KYC (registration) to avail further services". The amount field accepts exactly 5900.
• The credits screen says: "Renewal/Registration charges of Rs. 5900 is mandatory to use DLT (scrubbing, aggregation, delivery) and Campaign Schedule."

So the fee is charged after KYC, and it recurs. Airtel does not state the renewal period anywhere we could find. Its credit packs show a validity in days, and one pack exists only "To extend account validity & revise certificate only, No Free SMS/Credits will be available in this pack". Check the validity date in your own account rather than assuming twelve months.

Airtel's Business Name Display needs "no registration/ renewal fee", but it is a separate product, not a DLT waiver. Offline payment by NEFT, cheque or DD goes to Bharti Airtel Ltd using a bank-details PDF linked from the portal, and the form notes "Original to be submitted to CMS with DD/Cheque". Take the account details from that PDF on the portal, not from a copy reprinted elsewhere.

3. What Airtel cross-checks before approving you

These are the checks, with the exact messages you see when one fails:

Accepted entity proofs include certificates from sales tax, service tax or professional tax authorities, a firm registration issued by a local body, and a Mandi Board registration certificate. Airtel also asks you to keep the registered mobile number unique to the entity login. Telemarketers and resellers registering a client must upload a Letter of Authorisation for each entity.

4. Registration steps on Airtel

1. Check your PAN first. The platform asks you to "Enter your PAN to verify if your entity is already registered." If you were registered through an old SMS vendor, use that DLT registration number. Do not try to register again.
2. Register as an enterprise with PAN, GSTIN, signatory and documents. Register as a telemarketer only if you send on behalf of other organisations.
3. Clear KYC, then pay ₹5,900. Airtel says the charge applies post KYC "to avail further services".
4. Register headers under Manage Headers. To download Airtel's registration certificate you must have at least one SMS header or telephone number registered.
5. Add CTAs under Manage CTA before writing templates. The template form pulls URL, number and email values from this list.
6. Register templates under Manage Templates, with every variable tagged (section 5). Add consent templates under Manage Consent Templates if you send promotions to consented users. Airtel says consent template "Approval may take up to 24 hours", the only approval time it publishes.
7. Verify every quarter. "Header/Template verification is ongoing and mandatory on DLT portal by PE for every quarter."

5. Templates and Airtel's own tag names

Airtel's pre-tagging notice is headed "Mandatory Variable Pre-Tagging (TRAI Direction dated 18 Nov 2025 | Effective 15 Jan 2026)". For each variable it asks for the type, the purpose and a sample value that passes validation. The type picker inserts these tags:

Your AvanceZone ticket {#alphanumeric#} is resolved. Rate us at {#url#} or call {#cbn#} -AvanceZone

Other Airtel template rules:

• Maximum template length is 2000 characters.
• "2 – 3 Variable are allowed with at least 40% of static content in the template as per new TRAI directive."
• A trailing line break is rejected: "Fix line break at the end of the template content before adding the template."
• Airtel's portal gives two limits for a variable. The older page says up to 30 characters in {#var#}; the newer component says 40. Keep free-text values at 30 characters or fewer.

Service Explicit and category changes. Airtel's notice says "Registration of new SE templates with alphanumeric headers will be discontinued", "SE-Promo category migration will not be permitted" and "Category changes will be allowed only for SI and Transactional templates". It gives 45 days for senders to request eligible changes and 15 more for operators to decide, without printing the start date. If the line between service and promotional is unclear, our transactional vs promotional guide has examples. The wider rules are in our template registration guide and variable tagging guide.

6. CTA formats and header rules on Airtel

Airtel's Manage CTA screen validates each format strictly, and "Messages will fail during scrubbing if the whitelisted URL does not exactly match."

For headers, "Header value should be unique. Duplicate Headers are not allowed." Each entity has a cap on registered plus pending headers and templates, and past it you see "Exceeded permissible limit". Headers can be permanent or temporary, with a validity period for temporary ones. The portal lists three suspension reasons for headers and templates: "no usage", "verification" and "by customer". Header naming rules are covered in our sender ID guide.

7. Airtel's scrubbing error codes

Airtel's portal is the only one of the four where we found a scrubbing code table. These five codes cover most failed sends:

On a missing template, Airtel explains that the template "was not located in blockchain system. This can happen when the template created by entity is registered but not approved from TSP." The rest of Airtel's table, and the codes used on the Tanla platform behind Vi and BSNL, are in our DLT error codes guide.

8. Which operator portal should you choose?

You need an Airtel account only if Airtel is where you register. One registration, on any operator, gives a Principal Entity ID that the Vi and BSNL FAQs describe as unique across every access provider in India. Our Entity ID guide explains how to find yours. Airtel is a reasonable choice when your GST record is clean and lists your signatory. If it does not, compare:

• Jio TrueConnect: you pay only after approval, at ₹5,900 a year, with an annual self-certification.
• Vilpower (Vi): published approval targets, a phone line and an escalation matrix.
• BSNL: circle-level approvers, and MTNL's platform is being folded into it.

9. Rule changes since 2023 that shaped Airtel's portal

10. Common rejection reasons on Airtel

11. Support contacts

Airtel's portal gives dlt.care@airtel.com for queries and changes to registered details. When a header or template is blocked or inactive, its messages point to telemarketer.helpline@airtel.com. Airtel does not display a DLT helpline phone number to users, so we do not print one here. Approval times for entities, headers and content templates are not published either. For the steps common to every operator, start at the DLT registration hub.