3GPP Scout / Reference / EMM causes / Causes #97 and #99 in EMM and ESM
TS 24.301EMM causeESM cause
Covers
TS 24.301 words these values in parallel, so they share this page. Each has its own section with the spec text and a plain explanation.
In plain words
This cause means the message type does not exist or is not implemented.
Our summary of the spec text quoted below.
Message type non-existent or not implemented
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause 9.9.3.9, table 9.9.3.9.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
See 3GPP TS 24.008 [13], annex H, clause H.6.2.
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause A.5. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
In plain words
This cause indicates its sender received a message type it does not recognize because the type is undefined or not implemented.
Our summary of the spec text quoted below.
Message type non-existent or not implemented
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause 9.9.4.4, table 9.9.4.4.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
This ESM cause indicates that the equipment sending this ESM cause has received a message with a message type it does not recognize either because this is a message not defined or defined but not implemented by the equipment sending this ESM cause.
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause B.2. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
In plain words
This cause means an information element does not exist or is not implemented.
Our summary of the spec text quoted below.
Information element non-existent or not implemented
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause 9.9.3.9, table 9.9.3.9.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
See 3GPP TS 24.008 [13], annex H, clause H.6.4.
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause A.5. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
In plain words
The equipment sending this cause received a message containing information elements it does not recognize. Their identifiers are undefined, or the equipment has not implemented the elements.
Our summary of the spec text quoted below.
Information element non-existent or not implemented
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause 9.9.4.4, table 9.9.4.4.1. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
This ESM cause indicates that the equipment sending this ESM cause has received a message which includes information elements not recognized because the information element identifier is not defined or it is defined but not implemented by the equipment sending the ESM cause. [...]
Source: 3GPP TS 24.301 V20.1.0, clause B.2. © 3GPP Organizational Partners (ARIB, ATIS, CCSA, ETSI, TSDSI, TTA, TTC). Official text: 24301-k10.zip in the 3GPP archive.
TS 24.501 defines the corresponding causes for 5GS. Their pages quote the 5GS wording.
3GPP Scout built this page from TS 24.301 V20.1.0 as indexed on 2026-10-15. The quotes are copied from the spec, and code checks each one against the stored text and the 3GPP archive file before publishing. The plain-words lines were written by an AI model (GPT-6 Sol) and checked against the quotes by a second AI model from another company (Claude Opus 5.5). The official 3GPP text governs.