DoT: IMEI registration by telephone makers a should

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it obligatory for cell phone producers to register the worldwide cell gear identification (IMEI) — the 15-digit quantity that uniquely identifies every cell system — of all handsets made in India with the federal government. Importers, too, should register with the federal government the IMEI of every telephone earlier than importing it.

“The manufacturer shall register the international mobile equipment identity number of every mobile phone manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal of the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications prior to the first sale of the mobile phone,” the DoT stated on Monday, in a gazette notification amending the prevention of tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number, Rules, 2017.

It added that the IMEI of cell phones imported in India on the market, testing, analysis or “any other purpose” will even need to be registered on the identical authorities portal “prior to the import of the mobile phone into the country”.

The IMEI is a singular quantity that’s used to determine a tool on a cell community. It has 15 digits, and is sort of a telephone’s distinctive identification. The quantity is used to confirm the identification of a tool when a consumer makes use of the Internet or locations a name by way of it. Phones with a dual-SIM choice have two IMEI numbers, one for every SIM. The IMEI quantity may help community suppliers observe down a tool in case it will get stolen or is misplaced. Once such loss or theft is reported, the carriers can deny the system entry to the mobile community even with a brand new SIM card.

In a bid to curtail the rampant cloning and theft of cell phones throughout, the Communications Ministry had earlier rolled out a Central Equipment Identity Register. The identification register categorises cell phones based mostly on their IMEI standing in three lists — white, gray and black. Mobile telephones with IMEI numbers within the white checklist are permitted to be used, whereas these within the blacklist are those which are reported stolen or misplaced and usually are not be allowed to entry the community. Devices with IMEI numbers within the greylist don’t conform to requirements however are permitted to attach beneath supervision. The register additionally permits the DoT to hold out IMEI-based “lawful interception”.

In 2017, the federal government had notified guidelines to stop tampering of IMEI numbers of telephones by making it a punishable offence which might additionally appeal to a jail time period. The DoT had introduced its plan to implement this challenge in July 2017 and a pilot was carried out in Maharashtra. “The theft and cloning of mobile phones have become a serious problem. The theft of mobile phones is not just a financial loss but also a threat to personal life of the citizens as well as national security. Counterfeit mobile phones in the market are another issue for DoT. A substantial number of counterfeit mobile phones are active in our mobile networks with fake IMEI numbers,” a DoT workplace memorandum on the time had acknowledged.