TPS, CTPS, and PECR: the UK rules that apply to your dial.

What is the TPS?

The Telephone Preference Service is the UK's official register of consumers who have opted out of unsolicited live marketing calls.

It is operated by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and backed in law by PECR. Around 13.5 million UK numbers are on the register. If a number is on TPS, you may not call it with an unsolicited live marketing message unless that specific person has given you specific consent to do so.

What is the CTPS?

The Corporate Telephone Preference Service is the same idea, for corporate subscribers.

CTPS covers numbers belonging to companies, Scottish partnerships, public bodies and other corporate entities that have opted out of unsolicited live marketing calls. Around 1.1 million corporate numbers are on the register. B2B teams who think TPS does not apply to them are usually thinking of the consumer register only. CTPS is the one you need to check for direct dial numbers at corporate prospects.

What does PECR require?

PECR makes unsolicited marketing calls to TPS or CTPS-registered numbers unlawful unless you have specific prior consent.

The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) sit alongside the UK GDPR. For live marketing calls, PECR requires you to:

• Screen against TPS and CTPS before calling, and re-screen often enough that registrations made since your last screen are caught.
• Not call a registered number unless the specific subscriber has given specific consent for marketing calls from your organisation.
• Identify yourself, and provide an address or freephone number on request, on every call.
• Honour every opt-out request promptly and keep a do-not-call list.

How much can the ICO fine you for calling TPS numbers?

Up to £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover per serious PECR breach, since 5 February 2026 (previously £500,000). Several UK firms have received six-figure penalties for unsolicited marketing calls to TPS-registered numbers.

The Information Commissioner's Office enforces PECR and publishes every penalty. See the ICO enforcement register for current cases.

How often do I need to screen?

Often enough that newly-registered numbers are caught before you call them. The ICO has fined firms whose screening windows were too wide.

The TPS register is updated continuously. The DMA publishes updated register files for list cleaners every day. Real-time screening (what TPSClear does on phone-number change) is the strictest standard, and is the safest answer when an ICO investigator asks how recently the number was last checked.

Stored verdicts are aged out after 27 days, and the optional nightly re-check re-screens any number last checked 27 or more days ago. The law gives a new TPS or CTPS registration 28 days before it applies to your calls (PECR regulation 21(3)), so each number is re-checked inside that window, with a day allowed for the register's daily update.

Screening data and licensing

TPSClear screens against the official UK TPS and CTPS register data. Voll Studios Ltd, the company behind TPSClear, is licensed by the DMA as a TPS and CTPS list cleaner, and register data is supplied through our licensed data partners.

The licensing documentation behind your account is shared with every customer at activation. Questions before then: email hello@tpsclear.co.uk and we will walk you through exactly how the data is sourced.

Sources

• ICO guide to PECR
• Telephone Preference Service (TPS)
• Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS)
• Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003
• Direct Marketing Association (DMA)

Legal disclaimer