# POL-177 — The terms must say one final message follows an opt-out

> The SMS terms must state that a single confirmation message follows an opt-out and that nothing further is sent.

- **Rule ID:** POL-177
- **Layer:** Policy pages (`POLICY_PAGE`)
- **Checks:** `SMS terms opt-out section`
- **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:** AI judgement over the crawled website or policy page
- **Fix type:** Fix the privacy policy or SMS terms
- **Required by:** CTIA
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/policy-page/pol-177/

## Why this rule exists

CTIA expects exactly one confirmation after STOP, and a subscriber who receives it without warning reads it as the opt-out having failed — which is the most common trigger for a complaint filed immediately after someone has successfully unsubscribed. One sentence in the terms turns that message from evidence of a broken system into evidence of a working one.

## How to fix it

Add the sentence next to the opt-out instruction. Done when the terms set the expectation that one confirmation arrives and nothing after it.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
After you reply STOP we will send one confirmation message, and then no further messages.
```