# BRD-209 — The score maps to specific throughput terms

> The vetting score determines the carrier class and daily throughput the brand receives, and 75 or above is the target.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-209
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.vetting_score`
- **Severity:** HIGH — Rejected by at least one carrier or provider, and a common cause of failure at the rest.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** TCR, AT&T, T-Mobile
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-209/

## Why this rule exists

Score bands are the mechanism the whole vetting purchase exists for, and they are steep: 75 and above buys the top class and 200,000 messages a day, while 25 to 49 buys 10,000 and 1 to 24 buys 2,000. Promising a customer volume before the score is known is promising something you do not control, and the gap between bands is a factor of twenty rather than a matter of degree.

## How to fix it

Read the throughput off the band rather than off the fee: 75–100 gives AT&T Class A/B and T-Mobile Top at 200,000/day; 50–74 gives C/D and High Mid at 40,000; 25–49 gives Low Mid at 10,000; 1–24 gives Low at 2,000. Size the programme against the band you actually hold.

## Check this yourself

**Have you avoided committing to a send volume before the vetting band is known?**

1. Read the throughput off the band, not off the fee: 75–100 is 200,000 a day, 50–74 is 40,000, 25–49 is 10,000, 1–24 is 2,000.
2. Where a send date is already fixed, order the vet early enough to re-plan if the band comes in low.

*What wrong looks like:* A customer is promised a volume before the score exists. The gap between adjacent bands is a factor of twenty, so the shortfall is not a matter of degree.

## Notes

Absorbs OPS-129, which states the same mapping and warns against promising terms the score cannot deliver. The score is issued by the vetting provider after the fact, so what the user has to do is avoid committing to a send volume until the band is known — and where a date is fixed, order the vet early enough to re-work the plan if the band comes in low.