RFI 1047 address the issue of non-compliant transactions, but still remains ambiguous about rejecting a transaction for sending redundant information when the situational rule says "do not send". The first paragraph says that section 1.12.5 specifically says that the receiver cannot reject the non-compliant transaction on the grounds of non-compliance. The second paragraph states that 2.2.1.1 is "more general" and allows the receiver to reject a transaction with non-compliant redundant information .It is not made clear whether the specific statement in 1.12.5 has more weight that 2.2.1.1, and so the reader is left unsure if a receiver is "allowed" (even if not "requirred") to reject such a transaction as non-compliant.
If the receiver is not allowed to reject the transaction, the receiver must incur extra expense create processing rules to identify and then ignore non-compliant information, while the sender is not required to invest in creating a compliant transaction.
The sender uses data element GS08 to indicate that a transmission is based on a specific implementation guide. Then section 2.2.1.1 governs how compliance with the guide is determined. In this case, if a transaction contains a data element when the situational rule states "do not send", the transaction does not comply with the specified implementation guide.
However, X12 does not govern the receiver's actions when receiving a transaction that is not compliant with the specified implementation guide. Section 2.2.1.1 makes this clear with the statement "The receiver will handle non-compliant transactions based on its business process and any applicable regulations."
Section 1.12.5 cannot override section 2.2.1.1 and therefore does not dictate the receiver's reaction when receiving a non-compliant transaction. That is up to the receiver based on its business process and any applicable regulations. We will reconsider the wording of 1.12 in a future version of this implementation guide.