The sending-volume tier decides whether the sole-proprietor path is available
The requirementstatement
A registration that requests a volume tier requiring a tax ID cannot be filed on the sole-proprietor path.
- 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.entity_type + requested volume tier
- 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
- TextedlyTwilio
- When it appliesapplicabilityText
- Applies when the brand is a sole proprietor.
Why this rule existsrationale
The sole-proprietor tier trades verification for throughput: it exists because an individual has no EIN, and it caps sending hard as a consequence. Choosing the tier and then requesting a volume it does not support produces a registration that is internally contradictory, and the platform resolves the contradiction by refusing the tier rather than by lowering the volume. Customers reach it by picking their plan first and their entity type second.
How to fix itremediation
Either drop to the volume the sole-proprietor tier supports — roughly 1,000 messages a day — or obtain an EIN and register as a standard brand at the volume you actually need. Done when the requested class and the entity type describe the same tier.
A compliant exampleexample
entity_type: SOLE_PROPRIETOR with no brand class above it — or entity_type: PRIVATE_PROFIT with brand_class: STANDARD
Common mistakespitfalls
- The cap is enforced by the CSP rather than by the carrier, so the traffic is not rejected message by message — it is throttled or the account is reviewed, which is harder to diagnose than a rejection.
Provider rejection codescodes
The code you get back when this rule is what failed, and whether that provider lets you resubmit.
| Provider | Code | Resubmit |
|---|---|---|
| Twilio | 30903 | Yes |
Rules you will hit next
Other brand rules at the same severity. A registration is judged as a whole, not rule by rule.
BRD-001A legal company name is required for every entity but a sole proprietorBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-002Legal name must match the IRS record for the EINBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-003Legal name must carry its exact entity suffix as filedBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-008Legal name must not carry an appended personal name or roleBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-009The legal name field takes the legal name, not the trading nameBlockingBLOCKINGBRD-011A legal business name may back only one brand across the whole registryBlockingBLOCKING
BRD-039 is one of 196 brand rules in the 915-rule 10DLC registry. Free to cite under CC BY 4.0.