Smartphone IMEI number registration MANDATED by Indian Govt, Know why

Starting next year, smartphone manufacturers will now have to register the IMEI numbers of the devices they make. The government has issued a new rule for manufacturers to follow, wherein all the IMEI numbers of the mobile phones and smartphones need to be registered with the Indian Counterfeit Device Restriction (ICDR) portal. The law will be in place starting January 1, 2023, and all manufacturers need to follow it.

The law is enacted to address the issue of counterfeit products using these IMEI numbers to skip evaluation. Unregistered IMEI numbers increase the risk of black marketing, phone thefts and phone tampering as well. The registration of IMEI numbers could go a big way to curb the dissemination of counterfeit products in India.

Phone makers to register IMEI with government

The mandate dictates all phone manufacturers to register the IMEI numbers and issued the IMEI certificates by the Department of Telecommunications' Indian Counterfeit Device Restriction portal. This is applicable on all device manufactured here as well as the ones imported. The law has been issued under the Prevention of Tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number (Amendment) Rules, 2022.

"The international mobile equipment identity number of the mobile phone imported in India for sale, testing, research or any other purpose shall be registered by the importer with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal (https://icdr.ceir.gov.in) of the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications prior to import of mobile phone into the country."

The IMEI number in general is used to validate a mobile device by service providers, and is also used to identify mobile devices by the police in case of a theft. The IMEI number can be checked on any device by dialling *#06#. If the IMEI number doesn’t appear, the device you are using could be fake. Additionally, the IMEI number can also be found inside the Settings menu, as well as on the packaging box.