Calling rules and the law (PECR, TPS and your duties)

Adapt screens numbers against its own do-not-call list only. It does not check TPS or CTPS. This page says what that means for you. Guidance, not legal advice.

GuideChecked 2026-10-10

Adapt does not screen phone numbers against the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) or the Corporate TPS (CTPS). Nothing in the Caller console, in Send to…, or on a record checks them. Adapt screens against its own do-not-call list only. Whoever rings has to do the TPS and CTPS check before the call.

This page is guidance, not legal advice. If you are not sure what applies to you, ask a solicitor or read the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) guidance on direct marketing calls.

What Adapt does

  • Its own do-not-call list. Anyone who has asked Adapt to stop, or asked any caller working Adapt data to stop, is removed before a list leaves Adapt. You are told how many numbers were removed and how many businesses had no phone number.
  • Objections act at once. A caller who logs Do not call again stops contact straight away, with no review queue. Depending on who said it, contact also stops by email and on LinkedIn. See Call outcomes and what each one does.
  • Corrections are reviewed by a person. A caller's note never changes a record by itself.

What Adapt does not do

  • It does not check TPS or CTPS.
  • It does not place, record or listen to calls.
  • It does not decide for you whether a particular call is lawful.

Who is responsible

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), the person who makes a marketing call and the person who instigates it can both be responsible. Adapt supplies the list, the calling screen and the script, so Adapt treats itself as an instigator of the calls placed through the console. That does not move your own responsibility. If your team rings, you are also responsible for those calls, and for the personal data you hold and use under UK GDPR.

What you are responsible for

Duty What it means in practice
Check TPS and CTPS before you ring It matters most for mobile numbers and for sole traders and partnerships, whose numbers count as personal ones. Limited-company numbers are covered by the CTPS. Do this at your end, before the list reaches callers.
Keep your own do-not-call list Add anyone who tells you they do not want calls, and check it before every campaign.
Say who you are Callers should say who is calling and on whose behalf, and give a straight answer if asked where the details came from. The business is on a UK business database.
Show your number Make the call from a line that shows a number the person can ring back.
Stop when asked If someone says they are on the TPS, or asks to be removed, log Do not call again the same day and tell your manager. It reaches Adapt and the number is stopped everywhere.
Have a lawful basis and be able to say it For UK GDPR, know why you are using the data and be ready for a person who asks what you hold. See Data requests: access, erasure and objection.
Train your callers They do not need to argue the point or check with anyone before logging a stop.

For callers on the call

  • If they ask where you got their details, say so plainly.
  • If they ask to be removed, that is Do not call again, however they sound.
  • A plain no is Not interested. Do not use Do not call again for every no: it throws away businesses that might buy something else next year.

Before you dial

These numbers have not been screened against TPS or CTPS. If you reach someone who says they are registered, log Do not call again and tell your manager the same day.

Call outcomes and what each one does explains the Who told you that? question that decides how far a stop reaches.