TPS and CTPS for B2B callers: who is on which register.

A question I get asked about UK B2B calling is some version of "we only call businesses, so we only need the CTPS, right?" It's a common mistake, and it comes from how the two registers are split.

Two registers, one rule

The TPS (Telephone Preference Service) and CTPS (Corporate Telephone Preference Service) are the two halves of the register kept under regulation 26 of PECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. The Information Commission (formerly the Information Commissioner's Office, still branded ICO) says they "both work in the same way, but the CTPS is for corporate subscribers to use."

Regulation 21 does the work. You can't make an unsolicited marketing call to a number once it has been on either register for 28 days, unless the subscriber has told you they don't object to your calls.

Who counts as a corporate subscriber

PECR defines a corporate subscriber as a company, a chartered body, a Scottish partnership, a corporation sole, or any other body that is a legal person distinct from its members. Everyone else is an "individual", and the definition of individual "includes an unincorporated body of such individuals."

That last phrase is why sole traders and ordinary partnerships end up on the TPS. The ICO puts it directly: "sole traders and other types of partnerships are classed as 'individual subscribers' and PECR treats them the same as individuals."

So for a typical B2B list, with a mix of limited companies, sole traders and partnerships, the ICO's answer is the only workable one: "before you make live B2B calls, you need to screen against both the CTPS and TPS registers."

Registration takes 28 days to bite

Regulation 21(3) gives callers a 28 day grace period. Calling a number that has been on the register for less than 28 days isn't a breach.

The flip side is that a screen goes stale. The ICO warns that if a list was screened more than 28 days ago, "then you may inadvertently call numbers where the registration has become active." TPS Ltd tells organisations to screen "at least once every 28 days". That's TPS Ltd's wording rather than the regulation's, but it follows directly from the 28 day rule.

If you buy data, ask when it was last screened, and screen it again yourself if it's been longer than 28 days.

Things that don't override a registration

• A number on a website or in a directory. The ICO: "Just because a telephone number is publicly available or appears in a telephone directory does not mean it overrides a TPS or CTPS registration."
• Silence. The ICO says it "is not enough that someone simply failed to object to past calls, or did not take positive steps to opt-out of your calls."
• A past relationship, on its own. If someone you used to call joins the register, the ICO says you "can't make any more direct marketing calls to them from that point", unless they had already told you they wanted your calls.

When you can call a registered number

Only if that subscriber has told you they don't object to your calls (regulation 21(4)). The ICO says "their notification must contain your name," so a general consent to unnamed third parties won't do.

Keep a record of it. The ICO says that to prove the subscriber notified you, "you need to have a record of it." And the subscriber can withdraw it at any time, after which you stop.

Renewals and mobiles

Mobile numbers can be registered, and it's free. TPS registrations don't need renewing. CTPS registrations get an annual email reminder, and TPS Ltd requires confirmation to keep the number registered.

Keep your own list as well

Screening covers the registers. It doesn't cover the people who've told you directly to stop calling, which is a separate regulation 21 objection. The ICO says to add those numbers to a do not call or suppression list rather than delete them. That stops them coming back in on the next import.

In KIK Studio, a do not call outcome adds the person and their number to the suppression list, and the dialler refuses to call a suppressed number. TPS and CTPS screening isn't built into the product, so screen your list before you import it.

For everything else on the calling rules, including Ofcom's abandoned call policy and the new 2026 fines, see the full UK cold calling law guide.