TRAI Plans to Implement IMEI Blocking of ‘Stolen’ Mobile Handsets |

Stolen mobile handsets might finally be rendered useless to help curb mobile thefts in and across the country. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is likely to soon announce its fresh recommendations on blocking the lost and stolen mobile phones.

Up until now the telecom service providers could only block SIM cards of stolen mobile handsets to prevent misuse of stored data and personal information. But with the increasing cases of mobile theft and the ever-growing illegal handset market in the country being primary concerns, the move aims to provide some relief to the innumerable mobile phone users which constitute more that 70% of the total population of the country.

“… It (recommendations) was likely to come by the end of this month, but we have come across some problems with regard to duplicate International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers in mobile handsets available in the market, which is difficult to track. We are discussing it internally… it will take time, maybe by the end of this year,” a source in TRAI said, as reported in a TOI report.

IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that comes with every GSM mobile and helps to uniquely identify the handset. By using the global positioning system (GPS), a mobile operator can track the handset user.  Back in 2004 when the attempts to resolve the issue started, many service providers had no capability to track or block IMEI. Hence no breakthrough could be achieved. But since 2008, the telecom department has asked service providers to disconnect mobile phones that do not have IMEI numbers. Thereafter telecom service providers put the Equipment Identity Register in their systems so that calls from mobile handsets without IMEI are rejected.

These recommendations come at a time when TRAI has been in the news recently after increasing the cap on the number of SMSes to 200 per day per SIM in order to stop pesky calls and SMSes. The regulatory body had previously announced a cap of 100 SMSes per day per SIM but later increased the limit after receiving criticism from all corners.

Once implemented, these recommendations would contribute in a large extent towards not only preventing mobile thefts and tracking down of the illegal handset market but also in putting a check on the use of mobile phones for the anti-nation or terrorist activities. How successfully would it be implemented, only time will tell, but its introduction definitely comes as a positive step from the Government.