The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is the UK's official opt-out register for individuals who do not wish to receive unsolicited live marketing calls. It also covers sole traders and partnerships. Once a number is registered on TPS, organisations must not call it for direct marketing purposes without the individual's prior consent.
The Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) is the equivalent opt-out register for corporate bodies — including limited companies, charities, schools, and other public bodies. A business with a number registered on CTPS must not be called for unsolicited marketing purposes.
Please note: CTPS registrations must be renewed annually. A number that is registered today may drop off the register in future if the registration is not renewed.
TPS covers individuals, sole traders, and partnerships. CTPS covers corporate entities such as limited companies, charities, schools, and public bodies. If your marketing calls target both consumers and businesses, you must screen against both registers. 121prodata screens against both TPS and CTPS automatically in a single check, at no extra cost.
PECR stands for the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. It is the UK legislation that governs unsolicited marketing by telephone, email, and SMS. PECR requires organisations to screen telephone numbers against TPS and CTPS before making live marketing calls, and gives the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) the power to issue fines for non-compliance.
Yes. Under PECR, any organisation making unsolicited live marketing calls must screen its telephone numbers against both the TPS and CTPS registers before calling. This applies to all organisations, regardless of size — sole traders, SMEs, large companies, charities, and political parties are all subject to the same rules.
You must screen your telephone numbers against TPS and CTPS before you start making calls and then again every 28 days if you are still calling them. Numbers are added to the registers on a daily basis, so a number that was not registered when you last checked may have been added since. Screening every 28 days is the minimum required to maintain compliance under PECR.
Please note: Registrations to the CTPS register have to be repeated annually, so a number that is registered today may drop off the register in future if the registration is not renewed.
Yes. Businesses that wish to make marketing calls to other businesses must screen against the CTPS register, but the ICO recommends screening against both the CTPS and TPS to be 100% sure. If your marketing calls target both individuals and businesses, you must screen against both TPS and CTPS. 121prodata checks both registers simultaneously in every screening, so no additional steps are required.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) can issue substantial monetary penalties for PECR breaches. Following the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, the maximum fine is £17.5 million or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is higher. Fines can be issued to any organisation that calls numbers registered on TPS or CTPS without the required consent, regardless of company size.
If an individual who is registered on TPS has provided your organisation with their prior consent to receive marketing calls, you may call them. Consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous. It is your organisation's responsibility to record and maintain evidence of that consent. For more information on consent requirements, refer to the ICO's guidance on PECR.
121prodata holds a full licence for both the TPS and CTPS registers. Register data is synchronised every business day. You can screen numbers in three ways: by uploading a CSV or TXT file of numbers through the online portal, by checking individual numbers one at a time, or by integrating directly with the 121prodata API. Results are returned in seconds. A full history of all checks is stored in your account and can be used as a compliance audit trail. You can contact us at any time for a full export of your checked numbers in the date range of your choice.
Yes. The TPS credits that you purchase can be used to check:
Yes. You can include other data in the file that you upload (or API call). Reference numbers are a good idea but please avoid including personal data.
You need to place the telephone number in the first field if uploading lists to the website. Please get in touch if you would prefer the checker to check a different field so that we can customise this for you.
Data that you submit will be returned to you unedited and in the same sequence.
The bulk screening tool accepts CSV (comma-separated values) and TXT (plain text) file formats. Each file should contain one telephone number per row in the first column or field. Numbers should include the area code and must not contain extension numbers or additional digits. Both formats with and without a leading zero are accepted, for example 01451 860805 or 1451860805, as are international prefixes, for example +44 and 0044, and numbers without a leading zero, for example 1451860805.
If you upload a list of numbers to the website, you will receive all your numbers back in the same sequence.
Each number will be flagged to indicate if it is registered on the TPS or CTPS registers.
No problem.
Just get in touch and we'll help you out and if required replace your credits so you can try again.
The credits you purchase will stay on your account for 10 years before they expire.
No. You can use your credits all at once, in batches or one at a time. So, for example, if you purchase 1,000 credits you could:
121prodata charges a fraction of a penny per number screened. There is no minimum order and no setup or administration fees for self-service online screening. Credits purchased remain valid on your account for 10 years. Both TPS and CTPS registers are checked automatically in a single screening at no extra cost. Prices reduce per number at higher volumes. An unlimited use subscription is available if you screen large quantities of numbers regularly, for example 50,000 or more per month on average. A pricing calculator is available on the Pricing page.
Yes. The 121prodata API allows organisations to integrate TPS and CTPS screening directly into their own systems, such as GTM workflows, CRM, dialler, or other data platforms and apps. The API supports both single number checks and bulk screening. A Credits Available endpoint allows you to check your account balance before making calls, and minimum credit alerts can be configured to automate top-ups. Full technical documentation is available at 121prodata.co.uk/tps-services/tps-ctps-api.
A managed check is a service where 121prodata performs the TPS and CTPS screening on your behalf. This is suitable for organisations that do not have time or resource to run checks themselves. 121prodata will screen your data and return compliant results. An online account is created so you can view the history of all managed checks as a compliance audit trail. Managed check pricing is made up of standard TPS credits plus a fee of £50 plus VAT per hour of screening time (£25 plus VAT per 30-minute block). Find out more about managed checks.
To prepare a list of telephone numbers for TPS checking, arrange your telephone numbers in the first column/field of your file; 'Save As' a .csv (comma separated value – recommended) or a .txt (text) file format.
Please ensure that your numbers meet the following criteria:
Create an account today on this website and TPS check your telephone numbers to exclude C/TPS-registered numbers.
