India’s telecom body has said that Imei registering is not required for phones that will be exported. According to reports, the Department of Telecom (DoT) is reworking the International Mobile Equipment Identity or IMEI regulations, which is why it has said that manufacturers don’t have to register the numbers.

The details of this order were issued a few days back by the DoT on its website.

As you might know, IMEI is a 15-digit code that is used to identify devices running on the network. IMEI cloning has been an issue for the country’s telecom body for a few years and it has now started working on preventing such incidents.

IMEI numbers have been made mandatory for every phone manufactured in the country, but the latest order mentions that it is not required if the phones are going to be exported, at least for now.

Starting January 1, 2023, all mobile phone manufacturers are required to register the IMEI number of every handset manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal (https://icdr.ceir.gov.in) before the first sale of a newly launched mobile phone.

The new rule aims to make sure that all mobile phones that are sold in India have a legit IMEI number that can be tracked digitally. For the citizens, the new process will help users block their smartphones or feature phones if it gets lost or stolen so that they cannot be misused. This is also expected to arrest the black marketing of smartphones in India. These steps are vital in many ways, and also stop cloning of devices, which can be misused by bad actors.

And while the exported phones are not required to register the IMEI number, imported smartphones, and not just Made-In-India phones, like top-end iPhones, and Samsung Galaxy smartphones among others, will have to be registered as well.

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