DND check: how to check DND status and the rules

What a DND check tells you

A DND check tells you whether a phone number has opted out of promotional calls and SMS. In India that choice is recorded on the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR), which works under TRAI's Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR). Most people still call it DND, short for Do Not Disturb.

The register covers commercial calls and SMS. A person can block all promotions, or only some categories of them, such as offers about property or about loans and credit cards. Messages about something the person already has with a business, such as an OTP, a bank alert or a delivery update, are service or transactional messages and follow separate rules.

The rules follow the number and the kind of message, not who owns the phone. A distributor's mobile, a clinic's reception number or a factory owner's phone on DND is protected in the same way as anyone else's. Calling it "B2B" does not change that.

How to register for DND (NCPR registration)

NCPR registration is done from the phone you want to protect, and takes a couple of minutes:

1. Call or text 1909 from that number. The call is toll-free, and you can choose a full block or particular categories.
2. Or use an app or website. Jio, Airtel, Vi and BSNL each let you set your preferences through their own app or website, and TRAI has a DND app of its own.
3. Wait for the confirmation. Your operator confirms the request by SMS. Promotions may not stop at once, because the change takes a little time to reach every sender.
4. Change it the same way. You can move from a full block to selected categories, or leave DND altogether, through 1909 or the app.

If promotional calls or SMS continue after that, report them to your operator through 1909 or its app, with the sender's number and the date. Complaints help operators act against senders who ignore the register.

How to check DND status

For your own number, call 1909 or open the DND section of your operator's app. It shows whether you have a full block, a partial one, or none.

For numbers you plan to call or message, this is where many businesses go wrong. Websites that claim to check any number's DND status are not part of the official system, their data may be old, and pasting your prospects' numbers into them hands those numbers to a stranger. The check that counts happens inside the system TRAI set up:

• When you send promotional SMS through a provider registered on DLT, the operator compares each number with the register before delivery and does not deliver to those who have opted out. Your provider's delivery report shows what went through.
• Promotional voice calls should go through a registered telemarketer, from a number in the 140 series, to numbers cleared against the register.
• Service and transactional calls come from the 160 series, so people can tell them apart before they answer.

So a DND check is not one website. It is the result of sending through the registered route, which our DLT registration guide explains step by step.

Before a calling or SMS campaign: a checklist

1. Label the message. A payment reminder to a dealer you already supply is a service message. A new-season rate card sent to 3,000 retailers in Indore is promotional. Decide which it is before you choose the route.
2. Send promotions only through the registered route. Do not send them from staff SIM cards or a phone-based SMS app. Unregistered telemarketing can get the numbers used disconnected.
3. Keep your own do-not-contact sheet. When someone says "please don't call again", add the number the same day and remove it from every future list, whatever the register says.
4. Ask before you follow up. End a first call with a question such as "Shall I send the rate card by SMS, WhatsApp or email?" and note the answer with the date. For promotional SMS to a number on DND, an informal yes is not enough: the regulations provide a consent process on the DLT system, so ask your provider how it works.
5. Train whoever makes the calls. Give the caller's name and company at the start, and stop when asked. Our telecalling scripts include polite ways to do both.

A bought contact list, from us or anyone else, does not carry DND status, because preferences can change at any time; the check happens when you send. Starleads lists give mobile numbers in +91 format, cleaned and de-duplicated, so they load easily into a calling or SMS tool, and you can look at 60 real contacts on any list in the catalogue before you buy.

Questions people ask

Does DND stop WhatsApp messages and emails?

No. The register covers calls and SMS only. WhatsApp has its own opt-in and template rules, set out in our guide to WhatsApp marketing for B2B, and email needs its own permission and an easy way to unsubscribe.

The business published its number on its website. Can I call it if it is on DND?

A number being public does not change its preference. If your call is promotional, the register applies. If the business asked you to call, or you are answering its enquiry, that is a different situation from a cold promotion, so keep a note of how the contact started and take professional advice on any doubtful case.

My number is in a business list and I get too many sales calls. What can I do?

Register for a full block through 1909, report the calls that continue, and ask whoever holds your details to delete them. Starleads removes anyone's details on request through its data removal page.

This is general information, not legal advice. TRAI amends these regulations from time to time, so read the current version on TRAI's website before you plan a campaign.