DNCR Explained: How to Run Outbound AI Calls Without Getting Fined in the UAE

What is the Do Not Call Registry in the UAE?

The Do Not Call Registry (DNCR) is a list administered by the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA). Any person in the UAE can register their mobile or landline number on the DNCR to signal that they do not want to receive unsolicited commercial calls. Once a number is on that list, any entity conducting outbound telemarketing is legally prohibited from dialling it.

The DNCR sits within the framework of Cabinet Resolution No. 56 of 2024, which governs telemarketing activities in the UAE. Resolution 56 came into effect on 27 August 2024 and applies to all businesses conducting outbound sales and marketing calls — including businesses using AI voice technology to do so. The companion instrument, Cabinet Resolution No. 57 of 2024, sets the penalty tiers.

Screening your dial list against the DNCR is not a nice-to-have compliance step. It is the first obligation any outbound caller must fulfil before a single call is placed. This is true whether the calls are made by a human sales team or an AI outbound caller.

What are the fines for calling a DNCR-registered number?

Cabinet Resolution 57 of 2024 sets out a graduated penalty structure for telemarketing violations. For calling a number registered on the DNCR, the published figures are:

Notice that the fines are per violation, not per campaign. A single outbound run that dials ten DNCR-registered numbers could, in principle, generate ten separate first-violation notices — each at AED 50,000. At that scale, a careless dial list becomes an existential compliance risk for a small or mid-sized business.

What obligations apply to outbound AI calls in the UAE?

The DNCR screen is one item in a broader compliance checklist. TDRA-compliant AI voice systems must satisfy all of the following before an outbound campaign goes live:

• DNCR screening before every dial. Every number in your dial list must be checked against the current DNCR before the call is placed. The registry is not a one-time check — numbers are added continuously, so a list that was clean last month may contain DNCR numbers today.
• Prior TDRA approval for the campaign. Outbound telemarketing campaigns require approval from TDRA before they begin. This is separate from your business trade licence. See our guide to the 9-to-6 calling window for how approval interacts with calling-hours rules.
• 09:00–18:00 calling window. Outbound calls may only be placed between 09:00 and 18:00. Calls outside this window are prohibited regardless of whether the number is on the DNCR.
• Registered caller ID. The number displayed to the called party must be registered against your business's commercial trade licence. Spoofed or unregistered caller IDs attract separate fines under Resolution 57.
• Call recording with notification. Every call must be recorded, and the called party must be notified that the call is being recorded. MAJ AI callers announce this at the start of the call.
• Maximum 2 attempts per number per 7-day window. You may not dial the same number more than twice in any seven-day period.
• Same-day lockout after hard refusal. If a called party explicitly refuses further calls during a conversation, they must not be called again on the same day — and their preference should be logged for DNCR-equivalent suppression.
• Business name and purpose stated at call start. The AI agent must identify the business it represents and the purpose of the call at the beginning of every outbound conversation.

DNCR compliance checklist before your first outbound campaign

Work through this checklist before launching any outbound AI calling campaign in the UAE. Every item maps to an obligation under Resolution 56 or a penalty trigger under Resolution 57.

1. Obtain TDRA prior approval for your outbound telemarketing campaign before any calls are placed.
2. Screen your full dial list against the current DNCR. Remove every matched number. Do not rely on a cached or stale DNCR export.
3. Verify caller ID registration. Confirm the originating number is registered against your trade licence. If your AI caller uses a different number than your main business line, that number must also be registered.
4. Set campaign hours to 09:00–18:00 only. Configure your AI caller or Make.com workflow to prevent any calls from being placed outside this window, including on public holidays and Fridays where business hours differ.
5. Enable call recording with opening notification. The AI agent should announce at the start of every call that the call is being recorded.
6. Implement attempt-rate limiting. Configure your system to allow a maximum of 2 attempts per number per 7-day rolling window.
7. Build a real-time suppression list. Any contact who verbally refuses further calls must be added to your internal do-not-call list and excluded from all future campaigns on the same day.
8. Log every call with outcome. Maintain records sufficient to demonstrate compliance — who was called, when, outcome, and whether the number was DNCR-cleared.
9. Re-screen before each campaign run. If you run outbound campaigns on a recurring basis, re-screen the dial list against an updated DNCR export before each run, not only at list build time.
10. Obtain legal review. Have your outbound AI calling setup reviewed by UAE legal counsel before launch. This checklist is informational — it does not substitute for legal advice.

How does MAJ Leads screen numbers against the DNCR?

MAJ Leads builds outbound AI calling systems on top of Vapi and orchestrates pre-call logic via Make.com workflows. DNCR screening sits in that pre-call workflow layer — before Vapi ever initiates a dial.

The sequence works as follows. When a new contact enters the outbound queue — whether from a CRM export, a lead-generation list, or a triggered re-engagement workflow — the Make.com automation runs a lookup against the current DNCR before the call instruction reaches Vapi. If the number is registered on the DNCR, the contact is automatically suppressed: no call is placed, and the record is flagged in the client's CRM with a compliance-hold status. Lead data is delivered back to the CRM in under 30 seconds via the same Make.com integration.

The same pre-call layer also enforces the calling window. Contacts who pass the DNCR screen are queued; the workflow checks the current UAE time before each dial and holds calls outside the 09:00–18:00 window. This means the system cannot accidentally place a call at 08:55 because a workflow trigger fired early.

Does the DNCR apply to inbound calls or AI receptionists?

No. The DNCR — and the entire outbound telemarketing framework in Resolution 56 — applies only to calls initiated by the business. An inbound AI receptionist that answers calls placed by customers is entirely outside this framework. There is no DNCR screen required, no calling-window restriction, no prior TDRA approval needed for inbound answering.

This is why most businesses deploying AI voice technology for the first time start with inbound: the compliance overhead is minimal, the deployment is faster, and the customer experience — a caller who dials your number and gets an immediate, helpful response 24/7 — is immediately positive. Outbound AI calling is powerful, but it requires the pre-call compliance layer described above before it can operate lawfully.

For a full account of how these rules interact with AI-initiated calls, see our guide to AI cold calling legality in the UAE and our breakdown of the 9-to-6 calling window.

Which businesses need to comply with the DNCR?

The rules in Resolution 56 apply to any entity conducting outbound telemarketing in the UAE — regardless of industry, size, or whether the calls are made by humans or automated systems. Clinics running appointment re-engagement campaigns, real estate brokerages following up portal leads, F&B groups promoting new venues, and e-commerce businesses running cart-abandonment call sequences all fall under the same framework.

The technology used to make the calls — whether a human sales rep, a predictive dialler, or an AI voice agent — does not change the legal classification. What matters is who initiated the call and whether the called party has opted out via the DNCR. If your business makes outbound commercial calls in the UAE, the DNCR screen is mandatory.