A pre-launch checklist for election digital communication — DLT registration, sender ID and template approval, WhatsApp verification, consent, and silence-period planning.
Before You Launch
Most launch delays in election digital communication come from skipped setup steps — a missing DLT registration, an unapproved template, an unverified WhatsApp business account. This checklist covers the groundwork to complete before any campaign message is scheduled.
Register as a Principal Entity on the DLT platform and get a sender ID approved — this is the foundational step every SMS and voice campaign depends on, and it should be started weeks before the first planned send, since registration and template approval both take lead time.
The Checklist
Registration & Approvals
Register the campaign or party entity on the DLT platform — required before any sender ID or template can be approved.
Get a 6-character sender ID approved under the registered entity for SMS and voice campaigns to display consistently to recipients.
Submit exact SMS, voice, and IVR script content for DLT template approval — live messages must match the approved template exactly.
Complete Meta's business verification and get WhatsApp message templates approved separately — this runs independently of the DLT process.
Data & Scheduling
Confirm the source and consent status of every contact list before it's used for promotional messaging, per TRAI's consent framework.
Tag contact data by booth and zone so campaign messages, agent coordination, and reporting can all be targeted precisely.
Mark the Election Commission's silence-period cut-off on the campaign calendar and schedule the last promotional send to clear it comfortably.
Confirm the team has access to real-time delivery and call reporting before launch, so issues can be caught and fixed mid-campaign, not after it ends.
A Note on Compliance
DLT registration, sender ID approval, and template approval all take working days to process — treat this checklist as a pre-launch sequence to start weeks ahead of a campaign's first planned send, not a same-day task list.
See the Election Campaign Communication hub for the fuller compliance picture, or our DLT registration support page for help with steps 1-3.
Common Questions
A registered Principal Entity on the DLT platform, an approved sender ID, and at least one approved message template. Without all three, telecom operators will block the message before it reaches any voter.
Principal Entity registration usually takes a few working days, and template approval can range from same-day to a few days depending on the operator and template complexity. Campaigns should build this lead time into their launch schedule rather than assume same-day approval.
Yes. WhatsApp Business API access requires Meta's business verification and template approval through WhatsApp's own review process, which is separate from, and in addition to, TRAI's DLT registration for SMS and voice.
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