# OPS-126 — A low-volume campaign has a ceiling, not a warning

> Low-volume campaigns must stay under their published ceiling, or be upgraded to a standard registration.

- **Rule ID:** OPS-126
- **Layer:** Operational (`OPERATIONAL`)
- **Checks:** `campaign volume against the use-case ceiling`
- **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:** External record we cannot query — reported as a warning to verify
- **Fix type:** Wait on an external system or a required interval
- **Required by:** T-Mobile, TCR, Telnyx, Bird
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/operational/ops-126/

## Why this rule exists

The tier is priced for genuinely small programmes, and exceeding it does not throttle politely — the traffic above the ceiling is unregistered for the purposes of the carriers who applied it. Programmes grow into this without noticing, because the registration that was right at launch says nothing when the list doubles.

## How to fix it

Track monthly volume against the tier ceiling and upgrade before crossing it rather than after. Done when the registration matches the traffic the programme is actually sending this quarter.

## Check this yourself

**Does your low-volume registration still match the traffic the programme is sending this quarter?**

1. Track monthly volume against the tier ceiling and own the review — nothing prompts an upgrade.
2. Upgrade before crossing it rather than after.

*What wrong looks like:* The registration that was right at launch says nothing when the list doubles. Traffic above the ceiling is unregistered for the purposes of the carriers who applied it, rather than politely throttled.

## Notes

Volume against a published ceiling. What the user has to own is the review — nothing prompts an upgrade, and the registration keeps looking correct while the traffic outgrows it. OPS-VOLUME-PLAUSIBLE checks the declaration at registration time.