In a notification, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has informed that the requirement of registration of international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) of mobile phones being manufactured in the country for export is to be kept in abeyance till further orders. The notification from DoT comes in the backdrop of the requests from the industry stakeholders to remove the requirement of registering the IMEI of mobile phones meant for exports.
IMEI is a unique 15-digit code assigned to every mobile phone to identify the specific device on a mobile network. DoT had, in a notification on October 27, 2022, mandated that a manufacturer should register the IMEI number of every mobile phone manufactured in the country. In the same circular, it had also said this is part of the development work for updation of the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal to cater the requirement of locally manufactured mobile phone IMEI registration, currently under progress.
Additionally, DoT had also said that the industry suggestions will be implemented in the updated portal appropriately before making live the updated portal. The notification on October 27, 2022 also noted that the standard operating procedure (SOP) or user manual for the same is under preparation and will be finalised after industry feedback.
Further, the department had informed that the rule 4 (1) of the Prevention of Tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number (Amendment) Rules, 2022, shall come into force with effect from January 1, 2023. This was contested by the industry, requesting the department to allow three months more to implement the said rule.
However, in its latest circular, DoT has said that the date of implementation of the rules shall remain unchanged. In a gazette notification issued in September 2022, DoT had mentioned that it has amended the Prevention of Tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number, Rules, 2017, to enforce smartphone manufacturers to register the IMEI number of every mobile manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction Portal (ICDR) maintained by the department.
