# OPS-115 — An exempt message must not cost the recipient anything

> Where an exemption requires it, exempted informational messages must not be charged to the called party or counted against their plan limits.

- **Rule ID:** OPS-115
- **Layer:** Operational (`OPERATIONAL`)
- **Checks:** `billing treatment of exempt messages`
- **Severity:** MEDIUM — Usually survives review, but lowers your trust score or invites manual review.
- **When it bites:** Falls due after approval, once you are live and sending
- **How it is detected:** Human check — only someone holding the document can settle it
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** FCC
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/operational/ops-115/

## Why this rule exists

Several of the FCC exemptions are conditional on the message being free to the recipient, and a programme relying on the exemption while sending billable messages has not met the condition — so the exemption does not apply and the messages needed consent after all. It is a condition nobody controls from the sending side, which is exactly why it has to be checked rather than assumed.

## How to fix it

Confirm with the carrier or provider whether the traffic is free-to-end-user where the exemption requires it, and stop relying on that exemption where it is not. Done when the exemption you are relying on has had each of its conditions checked rather than only its category.

## Check this yourself

**For the exemption you are relying on, has each of its conditions been checked — including whether the message is free to the recipient?**

1. Read the conditions attached to the specific exemption, not just its category. The category is the famous part and the conditions are where these fail.
2. Confirm with the carrier or provider whether the traffic is free-to-end-user where the exemption requires it.
3. Stop relying on that exemption where it is not.

*What wrong looks like:* The programme sends billable messages under an exemption conditional on them being free. The condition is unmet, so the exemption does not apply and the messages needed consent after all.

## Notes

Determined by the carrier and the recipient's plan, neither of which we see. What the user has to do is read the conditions attached to the specific exemption they are claiming — the category is the famous part and the conditions are where these fail.