The government is determined to crackdown against mobile handsets with fake International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEIs) putting millions of illegal mobile handsets at risk of being blocked. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday announced that smuggled phones will stop working in Pakistan by the end of 2018. The mobile phone with fake IMEI will be blocked, said the minister, adding that smuggled phones on which tax has not been paid, will no longer work.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has circulated an SMS, asking people to get their handsets verified and check if it possesses a valid IMEI number. Otherwise, it will be blocked. Talking to Business Recorder Chairman PTA Mohammad Naveed said there are three types of phones including IMEI complaint, IMEI valid and IMEI invalid. IMEI complaint means verified and registered with PTA, valid means registered with Groupe Spécial Mobile Association (GSMA) and not with PTA. Both of these mobile phones would not be blocked, and would automatically register with PTA, Naveed added.
He further said the third category is IMEI invalid, which would be paired with a SIM and would not be blocked, but if another SIM is inserted, it would be blocked automatically. Chairman PTA further said that currently, the deadline is October 20 for verification of IMEIs, but customers would be given time before blocking their handsets.
PTA has developed Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS) to identify substandard, fake and illegally imported mobile phones as well as register and block noncompliant devices on mobile phone networks.
The PTA launched DIRBS in line with the Telecom Policy-2015 on May 10, 2018. The deadline for Phase-1 of DIRBS was June 29, 2018. It included mapping and identification of IMEIs and blocking of stolen/lost devices. Later, the deadline was extended to August 31 and now customers have been asked to verify their phones by October 20.
Through Device Verification System (DVS) telecom consumers can verify authenticity of their mobile devices in line with PTA regulations via sending an SMS to 8484 and can check the status of IMEI by logging in www.dirbs.pta.gov.pk or downloading DIRBS android mobile app from Google and Apple play store.
Sources said that the move has been taken in order to protect mobile phone users' data across the country. It will further ensure that mobile licensees actively identify such phones on their networks and maintain and update industry-wide database with information about such phones for the benefit of the mobile services sector worldwide.
At present, many handsets with duplicate IMEIs are available on the market, especially the low-cost, copy-cat versions of branded mobile phones. Those who bought these categories of phones may incur losses.
The public at large is not aware of the DIRBS campaign. Even though the procedure of getting IMEI verified is simple, however it might not work for people belonging to rural and far flung areas, given the low literacy rates there, official added.
Even some senior citizens in cities may not understand the procedure of IMEI verification until their relatives and friends guide them within the given period.
DIRBS has been designed to enhance government revenue by allowing devices that have been imported through proper channels. DIRBS will not only monitor devices being brought into the country in the future, but will also check the installed base of devices currently active or being sold in the channel. Furthermore, DIRBS shall facilitate importers of legitimate devices through legal import channels.
According to PTA official there will be three types of IMEI in DIRBS; (i) Invalid IMEI, (ii) Valid IMEI; and (iii) Compliant IMEI / PTA Approved IMEI.
Invalid IMEI-Two phones can never have similar IMEIs. The list of IMEIs that a manufacturer can use in their phones is issued by GSMA, a global authority that represents mobile operators from around the world. In short, any phone in the world can be identified if it has valid IMEI or not by simply checking its IMEI number against GSMA's list of approved IMEIs.
Some small, home-based Chinese manufacturers use dummy numbers as their phone IMEIs. At times they use all zeros as the IMEI or even alpha numeric numbers for their phones' IMEIs. All of these numbers are considered as invalid IMEI. A phone can also have an invalid IMEI if a customer gets the phone from the local market. Chances are that the IMEI number is flashed (software is re-installed) and re-coded with an invalid IMEI.
All phones that are imported through legal channels in Pakistan will have PTA approved IMEI numbers.
Any IMEI number that is valid and PTA approved is considered as compliant IMEI.
Valid IMEI- Third type of IMEI will be valid not compliant. Those phones that come with GSMA approved IMEIs but are not registered with PTA, such as a phone that is brought from Dubai may have valid IMEI but not compliant IMEI.
To checking phone's IMEI number, a customer is required to dial *#06# from his/her dial pad. They will get a pop-up that displays all the IMEI numbers of the phone (depending on whether they have a single SIM or dual SIM phone).
Phones with valid IMEIs but not compliant IMEIs must use the phone at once - with any SIM - before the deadline (that will be communicated to in the SMS sent by DIRBS/PTA). If the customer uses this phone before the deadline, then he/she will never be asked to register the phone. In fact, they can use other SIMs on these phones without the need to pair them.
If these phones are used before deadline, they will be allowed to use them as normal for the remainder of their life, just like they do now. If a phone (with valid but not complaint IMEI) was never used even once after the deadline then they will be given around 20 days to register the IMEI numbers with PTA, i.e. by going to PTA's website and getting an NOC from there.
This is the same NOC that is currently required if someone orders a phone from anywhere. After the deadline, a custom fee might be required in order to get an NOC from PTA to register the IMEI number. All those phones with valid (but not compliant) IMEI numbers will not be allowed to register with Pakistani mobile networks if deadline expires and if NOC is not obtained.
If implemented correctly, DIRBS brings a host of benefits for every mobile user in Pakistan which includes phone snatchers would not be able to sell the phone since the owner can easily get them blocked via their registered IMEI number, unscrupulous sellers who sell a refurbished phone for the price of a new one will not be able to do so, and customers are going to get 100% legal devices, that naturally come with better quality, after sales services and warranties.
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