Every business that sends SMS in India has to choose a route: transactional or promotional. The choice decides who receives your message, at what time, and whether DND numbers are reached. Here is a simple guide.
What is a transactional SMS?
A transactional SMS carries information the customer needs or has asked for – an OTP, an order confirmation, a payment alert or an appointment reminder. Because it is not marketing, it is delivered to every number, including numbers registered on the DND (Do Not Disturb) list, 24 hours a day.
- OTPs for login, sign-up and payments
- Order, shipping and delivery updates
- Bank and wallet transaction alerts
- Appointment and booking confirmations
What is a promotional SMS?
A promotional SMS is marketing: offers, discounts, new products, event invitations. TRAI rules allow promotional messages only to numbers that are not on the DND list, and only between 10 AM and 9 PM.
- Festive sale and discount offers
- New product or store launches
- Event and webinar invitations
Key differences at a glance
- Purpose: information (transactional) vs marketing (promotional).
- DND numbers: delivered (transactional) vs not delivered (promotional).
- Timing: 24×7 (transactional) vs 10 AM – 9 PM (promotional).
- Sender ID: a 6-letter header (e.g. DSFORU) for transactional; promotional headers are numeric or follow the operator's promotional format.
- DLT template type: service / transactional vs promotional – the template category must match the route.
Which one should you use?
Use transactional for anything the customer expects or needs to act on, and promotional for offers and campaigns. Many businesses use both: transactional for OTPs and alerts, promotional for monthly offers. Using the wrong category is one of the most common reasons messages are blocked, so register each template under the right type on DLT.
How DigitalSMS4U helps
With one DigitalSMS4U account you get transactional, promotional and OTP routes, help with DLT template registration and live delivery reports for every message. Request a free demo to try it with test credits.