A DUNS number is not a US business registration number
The requirementstatement
A DUNS number must not be submitted as the US business registration number.
- Severityseverity
- BlockingBLOCKINGBreaking this rule gets the submission rejected. There is no partial credit.
- When it bitesphase
- Gates approvalapprovalGet this wrong and the brand or campaign is refused at registration.
- What is checkedobject
- brand.ein
- Where it liveslayer
- BrandBRAND
- How Ekas settles itdetectability
- DeterministicDETERMINISTIC
- Settled in code from the values you submitted. No model involved, no judgement call, same answer every time.
- What the fix involvesfailureClass
- Fix the fieldRETRY_FIELD
- A better value in the form fixes it. Ekas can rewrite it and re-check.
- Who requires itauthorities
- TCRAWS
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies when the brand is NOT a sole proprietor.
Why this rule existsrationale
DUNS is a commercial identifier issued by a credit bureau, and the registry checks against tax records — so a DUNS number is nine digits that match nothing. It reaches the field honestly, because procurement and vendor-onboarding systems ask for DUNS constantly and it feels like the same class of thing.
How to fix itremediation
Replace it with the EIN from your IRS letter. Keep the DUNS number for the systems that want it — it is simply not what this field verifies against. Done when the value is the nine-digit EIN in hyphenated form.
A compliant exampleexample
ein: 12-3456789 — the IRS EIN, not the nine-digit D-U-N-S
Notesnotes
Only the shape is checkable here: an unhyphenated nine-digit US identifier is the DUNS signature, since a real EIN should carry the hyphen (BRD-020). Confirming a value IS a DUNS number needs the D&B register, which is EXTERNAL_DATA and out of reach pre-submission.
Rules you will hit next
6 other rules read brand.ein. Fixing one field to satisfy a single rule is how a resubmission trades one rejection for another, so read these before you change anything.
BRD-017A tax ID is required for every entity but a sole proprietorBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-019EIN must be nine digitsBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-020Submit the US EIN hyphenatedBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-021An SSN is not a business registration numberBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-032Submit the identifier in the form the issuing country requiresBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-065Sole proprietor must have no EINBlockingBLOCKING
BRD-022 is one of 196 brand rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.