OFR_988: rate limited for low message reputation

What it means

Code 988 is a rate limit: Orange is accepting your mail more slowly because the message has a low reputation. Its resolution has two parts. Sign your messages with your own DKIM domain, so Orange can judge your mail on its own history rather than on a shared signing domain, and try again later. Codes 988 to 999 are all rate limits in the Orange table, set by reputation or behaviour, and each resolution includes trying again later.

Common causes

• Your mail is signed with a shared DKIM domain, such as your sending service, whose reputation is low.
• Recent mail drew spam reports from Orange users.
• A sudden rise in volume to Orange addresses.

How to fix it

1. 01Sign your mail with DKIM under your own domain.
2. 02Try again later, as Orange asks.
3. 03Keep spam reports low: send only to people who opted in and offer one-click unsubscribe.

Sources

What this page rests on, checked on 20 Oct 2026. The explanation is ours; the reply text is the server's.

• Orange Postmaster Page (SMTP Delivery Guidelines and Error Codes)postmaster.orange.fr

Further reading

• Why sender reputation drops