Government orders mobile manufacturers to register IMEI
For representational purpose
The Indian government has issued a new mandate to register the IMEI number of all mobile phones. As of January 1, 2023, all mobile phone manufacturers must register the IMEI number of each phone manufactured for the Indian market on the Indian Counterfeit Device Restriction (ICDR) portal. The step is to control the increasing incidents of black marketing, fake IMEI numbers, phone theft and phone tampering.
All mobile phones, whether made locally or imported, must be registered and issued IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) certificates by the Department of Telecommunications' Indian counterfeit device restriction portal. The declaration has been issued under the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number Tampering Prevention (Amendment) Rules, 2022.
The official notice issued by the government states: "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."
In case you didn't know, the IMEI is a 15-digit code issued on all mobile phones. This number is like a unique ID used by service providers to uniquely identify valid devices. The ID helps the police to identify mobile numbers in case of theft.
How to check the IMEI number of your phone
To check your phone's IMEI number, dial *#06# from your phone. The phone is fake if your phone doesn't have an IMEI number. So always check the IMEI number before buying any mobile phone.
To prevent the proliferation of stolen devices, the government launched the Indian Counterfeit Device Restriction (ICDR) system and established the Central Equipment Identity Registry (CEIR) program to lock and track lost or stolen mobile phones. Currently, the portal has only enabled the blocking function for stolen or lost mobiles.