--- title: "What is PECR?" description: "PECR is the UK rulebook covering marketing calls, emails, texts and cookies. Read how it sits beside GDPR and what it means for your outreach." url: https://assistbpo.com/glossary/pecr/ updated: 2026-09-20 publisher: AssistBPO (SS Support Network LLC) language: en-US --- # What is PECR? Glossary What is PECR? PECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003, is the UK law that governs marketing calls, texts, emails and cookies. It requires consent for most electronic marketing to individuals, bans marketing calls to numbers on the Telephone Preference Service, and requires callers to display their number. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) enforces PECR alongside UK GDPR. Updated September 2026 · Reviewed by [Nimra Khalid](https://assistbpo.com/team/nimra-khalid/) ## How does PECR work? 1. Live marketing calls may go to individuals unless the number is on the TPS or the person has objected directly to the company. 2. Automated calls, marketing texts and marketing emails to individuals need prior consent; the soft opt-in covers existing customers for similar products. 3. Business-to-business calls are screened against the Corporate TPS, and B2B email needs an opt-out rather than an opt-in. 4. The caller must present a valid number, identify the company and provide an address or freephone contact on request. 5. The ICO can fine companies for nuisance marketing and can hold directors personally liable for those fines. ## A worked example A Manchester estate agency with 12 negotiators wants a remote assistant to phone past valuation leads about a new sales package. The assistant first runs the 2,300-number list through a TPS screening service, which removes 640 registered numbers. Contacts who objected to marketing on an earlier call are removed too. The remaining calls go out from a line that displays the agency's number, with a script that names the agency in the first sentence. Emails to the same leads are limited to people who ticked the marketing box on the valuation form. ## Where does PECR show up in your tools? PECR requirements appear as TPS screening exports from list-cleaning suppliers, as marketing consent flags in HubSpot and Pipedrive, and as caller-ID settings in RingCentral or Aircall that push the business number on every outbound call. ## Common mistakes - Assuming a website inquiry gives consent for marketing calls; it does not override a TPS registration unless the person specifically agreed to calls. - Withholding the caller ID on outbound marketing calls, which PECR prohibits and which also drags down answer rates. - Applying the soft opt-in to purchased lists, when it only covers people whose details the company collected itself during a sale or negotiation. ## Why does PECR matter? PECR is the rule most UK small businesses trip over when they start outbound calling, because TPS registration covers a large share of UK households. Screening and consent records keep a campaign lawful and keep the ICO's nuisance-call team away. This is a plain-language summary, not legal advice. ## How does AssistBPO handle PECR? AssistBPO assistants who make marketing calls for UK clients do so with lawful consent and do-not-call scrubbing, which for the UK means TPS and CTPS screening inside the 28-day window plus the client's own objection list. Marketing emails and texts go only to contacts with a recorded consent or soft opt-in, and the assistant keeps that record in the client's CRM. [Compliance, country by country](https://assistbpo.com/compliance/)[Get a staffing plan](https://assistbpo.com/get-a-staffing-plan/) ## Related terms - [TPS](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/tps/) - [GDPR](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/gdpr/) - [Do not call list](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/do-not-call-list/) - [CASL](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/casl/) ## Where it is used - [Compliance, country by country](https://assistbpo.com/compliance/) ## Next in the A to Z - [Per-call billing](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/per-call-billing/) - [Per-minute billing](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/per-minute-billing/) - [PIPEDA](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/pipeda/) - [Pipeline](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/pipeline/) [All 148 terms, A to Z](https://assistbpo.com/glossary/) Next step ## Your desk, staffed. Wherever you are. Tell us what is overloaded. A named person replies within 1 business day with a staffing plan, and we propose your assistant within 72 hours. [Get a staffing plan](https://assistbpo.com/get-a-staffing-plan/) [Book a 20-minute call](https://assistbpo.com/book-a-call/) Or call [+1-657-777-0006](tel:+16577770006) during US, UK or Australian business hours, or [hear our demo receptionist](https://assistbpo.com/demo-line/). - A named assistant proposed within 72 hours - Employed, screened and managed staff, never freelancers - Your hours, your tools, your data --- Source: https://assistbpo.com/glossary/pecr/ · Contact: https://assistbpo.com/contact/ · Full site map for agents: https://assistbpo.com/llms.txt