Mobile handsets without unique international mobile equipment identification (IMEI) number are posing a serious security threat to Punjab, which shares international border with Pakistan .
The Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has informed the state police and the vigilance department to take appropriate action. The ICA has also formed its own enforcement action wing to take steps against those dealing with such devices, mostly imported from China .
National president of the ICA Pankaj Mohindroo told FE, ?Punjab is among the eight most sensitive states and ICA is taking steps to prevent any threat to the national security. The telecom department has also issued a directive to ban all handsets without legitimate IMEI number with effect from December 1.?
After the deadline, calls to such handsets will be barred and such handsets would be blocked. It is estimated that the department of telecom (DoT) directive will result in disconnection of up to 25 million handsets.
IMEI is a 15-digit number that appears on operators? network when a call is made. The operator can easily block calls from such handsets. The operator can also send message to such subscribers from their equipment identify registers (EIR).
?More than 25% of the total mobile handsets that are sold today are unbranded and counterfeit. There is a strong need for efforts towards curbing proliferation of unbranded and counterfeit mobile handsets and accessories,? Mohindroo said.
It is widely known that unbranded mobile phones, after import, disappear in the parallel grey market without record of movement or billing since there is no after-sale services offered or demanded. ?A thriving unbranded market, accounting for 30% sale in each state, has been a challenge for the industry and the government. Telecom is one of the fastest growing industries in India. But, a growing unbranded segment can negate this growth and retard the progressive impact of a thriving industry. ?Most importantly, the ramifications of a proliferating unbranded segment extend to even more critical areas, including national security, in addition to consumers? welfare and safety,? he added.