01
The Instructions Sheet
Four lines for anyone who reads only one thing, then what is in the workbook, how to register the messages and what it does not do, including WhatsApp, which follows its own rules.
25 Diwali Offer Messages for Restaurants, Ready to Register as SMS (2026)
An offer SMS in India is not a free-text message. It needs a registered sender name, a registered template under the right type, and an opt-out. Send Diwali offers from a staff phone instead, and complaints from five people in ten days can get the numbers you sent from suspended, and every number in your name barred for 15 days if the operator finds against you. Updated October 2026.
- 25 Diwali messages, each marked promotional, service or transactional, with why
- A sheet that counts your own messages and flags offer wording in the wrong type, a missing opt-out and a link to whitelist
- The TRAI text behind every rule, quoted so you can check it
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Petpooja presents
Diwali Offer Messages
For Indian restaurants
25
Messages · Excel
Diwali 2026
What's Inside
Six sheets from the offer to the sent message
02
The Message Bank
Twenty-five Diwali messages for a restaurant: 17 promotional, 5 service and 3 transactional. Each has when to send it, the type to register it under and why. The parts that change sit in square brackets.
03
Your Messages
Forty rows for your own messages. It counts the characters and SMS parts, uses the 70-character limit when you mark a message as Hindi or it has a rupee sign, and flags offer wording in the wrong type, a missing opt-out and a link.
04
Before You Send
Ten checks to finish once, from registering as a sender to testing one number on each network before the full list goes out.
05
A Worked Example
Six messages from a made-up restaurant run through the checks. Four are flagged, including a booking reminder with a discount added, which can no longer be registered as service.
06
The Rule Reference
The TRAI text behind every type and check, from the 2018 regulations and the 2025 amendment, with what each line means for a restaurant's messages.
Send Diwali offers from your own customer list with Petpooja POSS
The SMS Service add-on in Petpooja POSS sends promotional and transactional SMS with a customisable sender ID, and schedules birthday and anniversary messages. Your sender ID and templates still need TRAI approval. SMS Marketing runs on Android POS and Electron POS, not on POS Lite or POS Local.
Explore Petpooja POSS
Why This Matters
An offer SMS is a registered message, not a text
You may already know which Diwali offers you want to run: a set menu, a thali, a free sweet above a bill size, gift vouchers. Our post on Diwali offers that increase restaurant sales covers those. This page is about the step after: getting the message to the customer's phone.
In India that step runs through TRAI's rules. Its Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2018 let commercial SMS go out only under a header, the sender name of up to 11 characters, assigned to a registered sender. Each message is registered in advance as a content template, and a message that fails the check against its template, in the words of TRAI's 2025 notification, "is not allowed to go forward". Since the 2025 amendment, the header carries -P, -S or -T, so a customer can see whether a message is promotional, service or transactional.
The type is where Diwali messages go wrong. Anything that advertises, including an invitation to book or a greeting that names your opening days, is promotional. It must carry an opt-out in the same message, and it reaches only customers who have not blocked promotions, unless their explicit consent is recorded. A service message gives information about something the customer already bought or booked; a transactional one confirms their own booking, order or payment within 30 minutes. Add a discount line to either, and the whole message is treated as promotional.
Sending offers from a staff or restaurant mobile number avoids all of this, until people complain. For a sender who is not registered, complaints from five different people in ten days lead the telecom operator to suspend outgoing service on the numbers that sent the messages and open an investigation. If it finds against the sender, the first time means 15 days with no outgoing calls or SMS on any number in the sender's name. The next time means a year, disconnected and blacklisted. In Diwali week, that can include the phone you call customers back on.
Links need one more step. Since 1 October 2024, an SMS with a link that has not been whitelisted with the operator is blocked, as TRAI set out in press release 67 of 2024. WhatsApp is a separate channel with its own business rules, which the FAQ below comes back to. For planning the season around these messages, see 20 ideas to grow restaurant sales for Diwali.
Sample Preview
What each sheet gives you
Here's a preview of what you'll get inside, sheet by sheet, in the order they open.
Instructions: Four lines to read first, what is in the workbook, how to register the messages, and what it does not do.
Message Bank: For each message: when to send it, the message with its changing parts in brackets, the type to register it under, and why.
Your Messages: For each message: the text as sent, the type, the script, characters, encoding, SMS parts and a check.
Before You Send: Ten checks with a status each, from registering as a sender to a test send on each network.
Example: A booking reminder with "Get 10% off desserts tonight!" added reads: Offer wording, register as Promotional. The restaurant is made up.
Rule Reference: The 2025 amendment: promotional content mixed into a service or transactional message makes it a promotional message.
... all 6 sheets in one Excel file, with the formulas locked and the input
cells in yellow.
Key Stats
Three numbers from TRAI's rules
5 in 10 days
When five or more different people complain within ten days about a sender who is not registered, the operator suspends outgoing service on the numbers that sent the messages and investigates.
Source: TCCCPR Second Amendment 2025, regulation 25, read 16-Oct-202615 days
No outgoing calls or SMS on any of the sender's numbers, the first time a violation is found. The next time, they are disconnected for a year.
Source: TCCCPR Second Amendment 2025, regulation 25, read 16-Oct-202630 minutes
A transactional message confirms a transaction the customer started, within thirty minutes of it. A reminder sent later is a service message.
Source: TCCCPR Second Amendment 2025, Transactional Message, read 16-Oct-2026
Common Mistakes
7 Diwali SMS Mistakes That Stop Messages Delivering
01
Sending offers from a staff or restaurant mobile
It costs nothing until people complain. Then it can cost outgoing calls and SMS on the numbers you sent from, and after an investigation on every number in your name, including the one you confirm bookings from.
02
Registering an offer as a service message
Any offer makes a message promotional, whatever it is registered as: one of the types of restaurant discounts or double loyalty program points alike. Register it as promotional from the start. Our Restaurant Loyalty ROI Calculator shows whether a points offer pays.
03
Adding a discount line to a booking reminder
A reminder is a service message until it says "10% off desserts". Then it is promotional and needs an opt-out. Keep upselling for a separate promotional message.
04
Leaving out the opt-out
The 2025 amendment requires an opt-out in every promotional message, in the same message. Ask your operator what wording it accepts.
05
Putting in a link nobody whitelisted
A link that has not been whitelisted with your operator blocks the whole message. Whitelist the booking or ordering link before Diwali week.
06
Writing a ₹ sign or Hindi without counting
Either switches the SMS from 160 characters to 70, so a message that fitted in one now goes as two, and each part counts as an SMS.
07
Calling a late confirmation transactional
Transactional covers the 30 minutes after the customer's own booking, order or payment. The day-before reminder is a service message.
Comparison
Offers From a Staff Phone vs Registered Messages
| Aspect | From a staff phone | With this workbook |
|---|---|---|
| Sent from | A staff or restaurant mobile | A registered header, up to 11 characters |
| The message | Typed fresh each time | Matches a registered template |
| Its type | Never decided | Promotional, service or transactional, with why |
| Opt-out | Missing | In every promotional message |
| Links | Whatever was handy | Whitelisted with the operator first |
| If customers complain | Every number in your name at risk | Templates and opt-outs already in order |
Swipe the table sideways to see the full comparison.
Send offers that reach the phone
Download the free Diwali offer messages and register them under the right type before Diwali week.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Do I need DLT registration to send Diwali offer SMS?
Yes, for SMS sent as a business. TRAI's regulations let commercial SMS go out only under a header assigned to a registered sender, using registered content templates. Your business registers as the sender with a telecom operator; an SMS provider can send the messages for you, but it registers separately and does not replace your registration. Sending offers from an ordinary mobile number is the unregistered case, where complaints can end with every number in your name barred. This page is general guidance, not legal advice; your operator's view of your templates is the one that applies.
What is the difference between promotional, service and transactional SMS?
A promotional message advertises: an offer, an invitation to book, a greeting that promotes the restaurant. It needs an opt-out and reaches only customers who have not blocked promotions, unless their explicit consent is recorded. A service message gives information about something the customer already bought or booked, such as a booking reminder or a pickup alert. A transactional message confirms the customer's own booking, order or payment within 30 minutes. If any offer wording is added to a service or transactional message, the 2025 amendment treats the whole message as promotional.
Can I send these Diwali offers on WhatsApp instead?
You can use the same wording, but the rules in this workbook are TRAI's rules for SMS. A message sent on WhatsApp follows WhatsApp's own business messaging terms, which this workbook does not cover, so check them with your provider. Our post on WhatsApp marketing for restaurants covers how restaurants use the channel.
Why did my Diwali SMS not deliver?
Reasons a registered message fails include a sent message that does not match its registered template, a link that was not whitelisted, a customer who has blocked promotions, or an offer registered under the wrong type. The Your Messages sheet flags the type, opt-out and link problems before you send; a test send to one number on each network catches the rest.
How long can a Diwali SMS be?
One SMS holds 160 characters in English letters. Any Hindi or other Indian script, an emoji or a rupee sign switches it to 70. A longer message is split and each part counts as an SMS, so counting the characters before you send keeps a message from going out as two SMS to every customer. Our older post on restaurant SMS marketing covers how restaurants use SMS more widely.
About Petpooja
Petpooja is India's leading SME business software suite, trusted by 1,50,000+ businesses across restaurants, retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and more. From billing and payroll to task management and procurement Petpooja helps Indian businesses run better, every day.
From your customer list to the Diwali message
Petpooja POSS keeps customer profiles from in-house bills and online orders in its CRM, and the SMS Service add-on sends promotional and transactional SMS with your own sender ID. TRAI approval is still needed for the sender ID and templates. SMS Marketing runs on Android POS and Electron POS. Ask for a walkthrough of Petpooja POSS.
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