Peppol Message Level Status (MLS) is an eDelivery status message exchanged between Peppol service providers. It reports what happened after a receiving service provider accepted a business document from the sending service provider.
MLS can report that a message was rejected at message level, could not be delivered to the final receiver, was delivered with confirmation, or was forwarded without a final delivery confirmation. It improves traceability between the service providers handling the exchange.
What MLS is not
MLS is distinct from both a transport receipt and a business response. A transport receipt concerns the AS4 transmission between Access Points. A business response, such as Invoice Response or Order Response, records a decision in the buyer’s or seller’s business process.
MLS sits between the two. It reports the technical fate of a document after it was accepted for delivery, and it carries no business decision.
Who exchanges it
MLS is exchanged between Peppol service providers. It is not sent to or from end users.
That is the main change from Message Level Response (MLR), which MLS succeeds. MLR was exchanged between end users and was optional. MLS is a service provider obligation with a deadline.
Harmonogram realizácie
- 1 July 2026 (T1): the MLS specifications take effect and the phase-in starts
- 28 February 2027 (T2): MLS receiving capability must be in production and registered in the SMP
- 31 March 2027 (T3): sending MLS becomes mandatory and the service level requirements become enforceable
- 1 May 2027: MLR is retired
At T2 the requirement is receiving only. Sending may be activated earlier, but it is not mandatory until T3. Registration of the receiving capability in the SMP is part of the T2 requirement, not a later step.
What it means for you
- If Qvalia is your service provider: MLS is handled in the infrastructure. You do not need to implement anything to remain compliant.
- If you operate your own Access Point: MLS is a delivery requirement with a date. Receiving capability has to be in production and registered in the SMP by T2, and sending has to be active by T3.
- If you build against a service provider API: ask how MLS outcomes are exposed to you. A rejection at message level is information you want in your own process, whoever produces it.
Špecifikácie
MLS uses UBL ApplicationResponse and the current Peppol eDelivery rules. It succeeds Message Level Response (MLR) for this eDelivery status purpose.
The MLS specification is at version 1.1.0, published on 2 July 2026. The Service Provider Operational Guideline on MLS v1.0.0 was published the same day, and the Peppol MLR Deprecation and Phase-out Plan v1.0.0 on 15 July 2026.
See the current official Peppol eDelivery documentation, the official MLS phase-in plan and the article about Message Level Response.
