The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) and Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS) are operated by the Telephone Preference Service Limited (TPSL), a subsidiary of the Data & Marketing Association (DMA), under contract from the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
From 1 September 2026, TPSL introduced a royalty fee for companies like 121prodata that offer TPS/CTPS screening as a service on behalf of clients. The principle behind it: everyone using the telephone channel should contribute to the cost of running the registers, even when they access them through an intermediary like us rather than holding a licence directly. We think that's a reasonable principle, and we've spent time working out what it means in practice.
For the large majority of clients, nothing changes beyond a small increase in price — that's Option 1 below. If you're checking higher volumes regularly, a Large User Subscription (Option 2) may work out better value than buying credits as you go. And if your volume is genuinely high, it may be worth holding your own direct TPSL licence instead (Option 3), either alongside 121prodata or entirely independently. This page sets out all three honestly, so you can pick what fits.
1. Pay-as-you-Go
Our pay-as-you-go credit pricing on the website now includes a £0.20+VAT per 1,000 checks pass-through of TPSL's royalty, applied consistently across every tier. You don't need to do anything differently — one credit still checks both TPS and CTPS at once, there's no minimum order, and credits stay valid for 10 years. Current rates are on our pricing page.
2. Large User Subscription
Already checking 50,000+ numbers a month, or heading that way? We've got Large User plans built around real volume, so the more you check, the better the rate gets. Unlike Option 1, this isn't something you set up through the online calculator — it's a plan arranged directly with us, tailored to your volume. Just let us know roughly how many numbers you're working with each month and we'll come back with the option that fits.
3. Buy a TPS and CTPS Licence
TPSL's royalty is capped at £3,300+VAT a year per client — reached at around 16.5 million checks a year, so 121prodata's royalty pass-through never costs more than that. Buy your own direct licence instead and there's no royalty at all — you pay the licence fee to TPSL directly. What's still worth weighing is whether you want 121prodata's checking service on top. There are two ways to think about it:
Option A: Keep using 121prodata for the checking
Holding your own licence doesn't mean building your own system. You keep using 121prodata's platform to run the actual checks, keep your records, and maintain the audit trail TPSL requires — the checking tool, matching engine, API and reporting system are already built and running, so there's nothing for you to develop or maintain. The only real change is that the royalty pass-through drops off, since your own licence already covers it.
Option B: Build your own checking and audit system
The full DIY route: build and maintain your own screening and audit-trail process entirely in-house.
It's worth being clear about what a licence actually gets you: just the raw list of numbers — one file for TPS, one for CTPS. That's it. There's no checking tool, matching engine, API or reporting system included. Screening your own numbers against those files, storing the results, and producing an audit trail all still have to be built by you, from scratch, on top of holding the licence — along with meeting whatever ongoing compliance obligations TPSL attaches to your licence.
For the mechanics of the royalty itself — how TPSL calculates it, how the annual cap works, and TPSL's own terms — see their FAQ: corporate.tpsonline.org.uk/list_cleaning_faqs
The royalty pass-through itself is covered under our own Terms and Conditions.
For anything specific to your account — which option makes sense for your volume, or what a direct licence would mean for your setup — just get in touch. We're happy to talk it through.
