UAE telemarketing rules for sales teams

Both resolutions were issued on 10 June 2024, and each takes effect 60 days after publication in the Official Gazette. The UAE Legislation portal dates Resolution 56 from 27 August 2024, and Aletihad reported it in force that day. As of 17 October 2026 the Ministry of Economy and Tourism listed no later telemarketing instrument.

Article 1 defines telemarketing as calls to consumers by landline or mobile number. It includes marketing texts and marketing messages through social media applications. A consumer is a natural person, and a call the consumer asked for is not an unwanted marketing call. The rules bind every company licensed in the UAE that telemarkets, free zone companies included (Article 3(1)). Natural persons may not make marketing calls for products or services they provide in their own name (Article 3(2)).

On our reading, a call to a company switchboard about a company purchase may fall outside the resolution, since the resolution's consumer is a natural person. A buyer's own mobile still reaches a natural person, hence we treat every mobile number as covered. For B2B teams we prefer demand the buyer starts, from B2B advertising beyond LinkedIn to a shipper's RFQ, which our freight RFQ response work handles.

Article 4 sets the company's standing duties:

• Prior approval to practise telemarketing from the competent authority, the licensing authority that issued the trade licence (Article 4(1)).
• Local numbers registered under the company's commercial licence, and no numbers it does not own or register (Articles 4(3) and 4(13)).
• Training for every marketer, including the basic principles of using the DNCR (Article 4(2)).
• A channel for consumers who want marketing information, and marketing calls to those consumers only (Article 4(4)).
• A register of every marketing call in the authority's form, and a recording of each call (Articles 4(6) and 4(7)). Periodic reports go in within 1 month of their due date (Article 4(8)).
• The source of consumer numbers and data, disclosed when the authority asks (Article 4(12)).

Article 4(4) is the duty marketing can carry. A form or a landing page can serve as that channel, and the consent travels with each lead. We build that flow through paid campaigns that bring in requests, because each number's source is then on file. We do not buy lists, since Article 6(4) bars disclosing consumer data without consent or trading it for reprocessing.

The number is checked against the DNCR before dialling, since Article 4(5) bars marketing calls to registered numbers. Calls go out only from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm (Article 5(3)). The caller opens with the company and the purpose of the call (Article 4(11)) and says the call is recorded (Article 4(7)). The question whether the person wants to continue comes before any pitch (Article 5(7)).

The pitch may not put unjustified pressure on the consumer or mislead them (Articles 5(1) and 5(2)). A refusal on the first call means no call-back (Article 5(4)). After no answer or a hang-up, the limit is 1 call-back a day and 2 a week (Article 5(5)). Automated systems may be used within the same rules (Article 5(6)), and competent authorities may add controls without softening these (Article 5(9)).

Our marketing measurement setup ties the call register to the lead record, so each call traces back to its consent. The ads that bring leads in answer to UAE advertising law.

The DNCR is the national registry, supervised by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA), that protects consumers from unwanted marketing calls (Article 1). The English translation also calls it the Do Not Connect Register. Registration suspends marketing calls and lets the consumer complain about them (Article 6(5)).

TDRA's instruction of 5 August 2026 reads: "Register your number in the Do Not Call Registry by sending DNCR via SMS to 2211 to opt out of authorised telemarketing campaigns." In 2024 its deputy director general described opt-outs "from specific sectors or all sectors".

Texts sit under 2 sets of rules. Resolution 56 counts marketing texts as telemarketing, and TDRA's 2022 SMS policy sets its own mechanics, including an AD- code in the sender name and a free opt-out in every message. Our reading is that a marketing text has to meet both, hence we treat a number on the DNCR as closed to texts too.

The windows differ by channel. Calls run from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. TDRA's FAQs give 7 am to 9 pm UAE time for marketing texts. A dialler and an SMS platform therefore need separate schedules. Businesses sending through an operator may not ask for SMS consent by text or voice call, hence we collect it on forms. Our guide to UAE data protection for marketers covers the consent rules behind the data.

A consumer may complain to the competent authority about unwanted marketing calls (Article 6(1)), and the authority may investigate on its own initiative (Article 6(3)). Under Article 8(1), the authorities and TDRA share data with personal data protection in mind. Article 10 lets the Minister issue rules against practices that circumvent the resolution. Who supervises what (Article 9 and the Ministry's 2024 briefing):

• The Ministry of Economy supervises overall.
• The Central Bank covers banks and other financial institutions, insurers included.
• The SCA covers securities and commodities trading, and asks for its own approval first.
• Local licensing authorities, mainland or free zone, cover the rest in each emirate.
• TDRA manages the DNCR.

Resolution 57 applies without prejudice to severer penalties in other UAE legislation (Article 2). For a company, a warning comes first, then a fine under Table 1, then total or partial suspension of the activity for 7 to 90 days. The top step cancels the licence and the commercial registration. Communications services are cut and the phone number removed. A repeat of the same violation within 6 months lets the authority go straight to the most severe penalty.

Table 1 lists 18 violations, each with a fine that rises on a second and a third offence. Of those, 3 rows top out at AED 150000, 3 at AED 75000, 8 at AED 50000 and 4 at AED 30000. First offence to third:

• No prior approval, Article 4(1): AED 75000 to AED 150000.
• Calling a number on the DNCR, Article 4(5): AED 50000 to AED 150000.
• Disclosing or trading consumer data, Article 6(4): AED 50000 to AED 150000.
• Calling outside the window, Article 5(3): AED 10000 to AED 50000.

Individual callers answer to TDRA, which acts with the licensed operators. A first violation costs AED 5000, with every number in the person's name cut until the fine is paid. A repeat within 30 days costs AED 20000 and a 3-month cut-off, and a third within 30 days AED 50000 and 12 months without telecom service. TDRA's post of 5 August 2026 listed, as of June 2026, 3301 violations issued against individuals, 92748 numbers reported and 9433 numbers disconnected, followed by "AED 19.19 million in total".

The Central Bank's Telemarketing Regulation, Circular C 3/2026, has been in force since 31 March 2026. It was issued to fulfil the requirements of Resolution 56. It binds all licensed financial institutions on a group-wide basis, and each must make its third-party service providers comply. It adds:

• Written board approval before any telemarketing, and at least 15 hours of training per telemarketer.
• Prior express consent, covering how the customer may be contacted, robocalls included, with age verification at that point. Consent given on a call must be explicit and verbal, with the audio kept.
• Withdrawal at any time without cost, after which contact stops and the customer comes off the list.
• No telemarketing to anyone who opted out or is on the DNCR, and every call states the right to register in it.
• Calls from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm, no more than 1 call a day and 2 a week, with follow-ups only on request. A robocall drops an unanswered call within 15 seconds or 4 rings and connects an answered one to a telemarketer within 2 seconds.
• Records kept for at least 5 years in the Central Bank's format, and an annual report to it. Customers are told calls are recorded.

Sanctions are at the Central Bank's discretion, and institutions had 90 days from 31 March 2026 to comply.