# POL-229 — The support contact in the terms must match the HELP reply

> The support email or phone number in the SMS terms must be one the HELP auto-reply also gives.

- **Rule ID:** POL-229
- **Layer:** Policy pages (`POLICY_PAGE`)
- **Checks:** `SMS terms contact block vs campaign.help_message`
- **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:** Deterministic (settled in code from the submitted values)
- **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-229/

## Why this rule exists

A subscriber who texts HELP and a subscriber who reads the terms should reach the same place, and when they do not, one of the two routes is usually a mailbox nobody watches. The mismatch appears when support changes address and only the auto-reply is updated, because that is the one somebody tests.

## How to fix it

Use the same support address and number in the HELP reply and in the terms. Done when at least one contact route appears in both, and both are monitored.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
HELP reply and SMS terms both give support@acmecoffee.com.
```

## Notes

Requires an overlap rather than an identical set: a HELP reply that gives an email and a phone number while the terms give only the email is consistent, and failing it would push brands to pad both documents.