If You Lose Your Phone, The Govermnet Will Help Find It With IMEI

The Indian Telecom Ministry is about to publish the new IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) database named Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) as the government is trying to curtail mobile phone theft and rampant cloning nationally. This database will provide each mobile with a 15-digit number distinctively to identify them.

With this new implement, Indian consumers can inform of the situation to the DoT (Department of Telecom) if their phones are stolen or lost. They would report to the police before calling DoT helpline number, having their phones tracked. The DoT will blacklist these phones’ IMEI numbers, forcing stolen or lost phones to stop operating and isolating it from every cellular network from then on.

Moreover, the specially stated objective of the CEIR is facilitating the lawful interception based on IMEI. Although the primary purpose of CEIR creation is to deal with mobile theft, the government is expecting it to aid mobile phone interception through legal enforcement agencies. According to TRAI data, until March 2019, there were at least 1.16 billion Indian wireless subscribers.

In July 2017, the DoT announced to implement the project and conducted a pilot in Maharashtra. According to the statement in a DoT office detailed memorandum:

The preparation plan for mobile identification number registry was conceived first in the National Telecom Policy-2012. The BSNL’s IT Project Service unit, which belongs to the government, had carried out trials on this project in Pune. The CEIR project is potential enough for the government of India to allocate 15 billion rupees, which is a part of the 2019-2020 interim budget, for the DoT.

The database of DoT’s identity register, in line with practices around the world, would be an IMEI number database, consisting of three categories: white, gray, and black. The white numbers will be allowed using mobile phones normally. The grey numbers will be under control and have limited access as they do not meet the standards. The black numbers will be blocked from every network.

The idea of central identity register is publicly recommended by GMSA which represents internet and software firms, equipment manufacturers, mobile operators, as well as other stakeholders in the area.

A lot of countries in the world such as Egypt, Azerbaijan, Turkey, the UK, Australia, etc., are also utilizing this device identity registry.

Besides the previous objectives, Indian CEIR aims are to block stolen or lost mobiles from networks thus preventing, curtail the counterfeit mobiles and maintain the equipment identity registry as to smooth the way for lawful IMEI database interception. Moreover, the CEIR is going to be permitted to connect to the international IMEI database of GSMA. It would help to compare IMEI numbers, identifying counterfeit gadgets in India.