The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has notified that mobile phone manufacturers will no longer need to register the IMEIs of locally made units for exports. Accordingly, the requirement of registration of IMEIs of mobile phones manufactured in the country for export is kept in abeyance until further orders.
According to a notification posted on the department’s website, the industry had asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to remove the requirement for registering the IMEI, or International Mobile Equipment Identity, of mobile phones, intended for exports.
IMEI is a unique 15-digit code assigned to every mobile phone to identify the device connected to a mobile network. A dual SIM phone will have two unique IMEI numbers.
In a notification on October 27, the department mandated that manufacturers register the IMEI number of all mobile phones manufactured in the country. The circular also said the standard operating procedure (SOP) or user manual for the same is being prepared and will be finalized after incorporating the industry feedback.
In the circular, it also mentioned that this is part of the development work for the updation of the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal to cater to the requirements of locally manufactured phone IMEI registration.
DoT also mentioned that all the industry suggestions would be implemented in the portal before making the updated portal live.
