The Indian Government To Lunch CEIR To Help People Track Their Lost Phones

The government has just launched CEIR (short for Central Equipment Identity Register), which is basically a database of all IMEIs of every mobile operator in India. With CEIR, Indians can now track their device when they lose it.

What you have to do when your phone is stolen or get lost is to access the CEIR website and file a complaint.

This online portal was announced by Union Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad last week. For now, CEIR is still a pilot program in Maharashtra, but in the future, it will be rolled out to the entire country.

CEIR’s database contains IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number of every mobile operator in India. So when a phone gets lost, its user is able to track it using this number.

Each phone has a unique number consisting of 15 digits that can identify it. When a phone call is made, the call record will have the phone number and the IMEI number of the device that has made the call.

Another function of the portal is to be a central system for companies to share with each other blacklisted phones so that they cannot work in another network, even if the SIM card is changed, making the device redundant.

When your phone gets lost, you need to file an FIR and notify the Department of Telecom via the helpline 14422. DoT will prevent the phone from working across the network, which will make it useless for reuse.

If there is someone using the device, they can be tracked down by the telecom service provider, and then the police will be notified of this information.

It is believed that all large providers like Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, BSNL, and Airtel will participate in this service.