# BRD-109 — Brand contact email must not use a free consumer domain

> The brand support/business contact email must be on a domain the business controls, not a free consumer mail provider.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-109
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.email`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** Deterministic (settled in code from the submitted values)
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** AWS, TCR, Sinch, Bandwidth, Telnyx
- **Applies:** Applies when the brand is NOT a sole proprietor.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-109/

## Why this rule exists

A business-domain email is weak evidence that the registrant controls the business they are registering. Free consumer addresses are the pattern fraudulent registrations use, so several providers reject them outright rather than weighting them.

## How to fix it

Use an email address on your business domain (e.g. support@yourcompany.com). Free consumer addresses are rejected for registered entities.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
support@acmecoffee.com
```

## Notes

Sole proprietors are carved out — they legitimately have no business domain. Severity varies by authority (MEDIUM at carriers, BLOCKING at AWS/TCR/Sinch); strictest kept.