Explained: The New Govt Rules To Stop Mobile Theft And Tampering In India

New guidelines that make it mandatory for all handset manufacturers to register all their devices with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) portal starting January 1, 2023.

In a bid to stop the black marketing of smartphones and check the sale and purchase of stolen and fake smartphones in India, the government has taken a big step. The Department of Telecom (DoT) has issued a gazette notification wherein it has stated new guidelines that make it mandatory for all handset manufacturers to register all their devices with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) portal starting January 1, 2023, before they sell the device of the first time. 

“The manufacturer shall register the international mobile equipment identity number of every mobile phone manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal (https://icdr.ceir.gov.in) of the Government of India in the Department of Telecommunications prior to the first sale of the mobile phone,” read the DoT notification.

What is the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal?

The Indian Counterfeit Device Restriction or ICDR portal was launched by the central government last year. Click on https://icdr.ceir.gov.in to reach the ICDR portal which was launched for granting International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) certifications for the import of mobile devices through various customs ports.

The government's new guidelines would apply to all smartphones, including imported devices such as flagship smartphones made by Samsung and Apple.

The new guidelines from the DoT come almost five years after the government made tampering with IMEI numbers a punishable offence which can land an offender in jail for up to three years. The rules were introduced in 2017 and according to that “the prevention of tampering of the Mobile Device Equipment Identification Number, Rules, 2017” bar a person from knowingly using a mobile device whose IMEI number has been changed unlawfully or software that can change or tamper the unique number.

It should be noted that reports of fake IMEI numbers and duplicate IMEI numbers being found in smartphones are not new. As many as 13,500 Vivo smartphones in Meerut had the same IMEI numbers, which were found in 2020, according to a report by Livemint.