The Department of Telecom (DoT) will be instructing telecos to bar calls originating from phones which do not have an IMEI number or have zero as their IMEI number. IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number,is an unique 14-digit code used to identify valid devices.
There are about 1.6 crore Chinese-made and locally-assembled handsets in use that don’t have IMEI numbers. Even mobile phones that have all zeroes or no zero in their IMEI code will also be barred.
The DoT move comes after security agencies found the mobile phones used by terrorists in the recent blasts did not have IMEI numbers. Sales of Chinese handsets constitute about 13.3 per cent (or Rs 4,000 crore) of the Rs 30,000-crore annual mobile handset market in the country.
By using the IMEI number, the security agencies not only can block the handset, but also retrieve call details from the recovered handset. Even CDMA mobile phones have an electronic serial number equivalent to the IMEI number in GSM mobile phones.
"However, most of the China-make mobile phones carry fake IMEI numbers. In some case, several of such handsets have the same IMEI number. In such cases, it becomes virtually impossible to extract information about the calls made from these mobile phones," the official said.
Local dealers of Chinese handsets are exploiting this by offering to change the IMEI number if your phone has a code with all zeroes or no zero. Mobile phone makers said they are working to plug the loophole as a change in IMEI is not legal in India, unlike the UK and Poland. Software to change IMEI numbers is freely available on websites. The government fears militants might use such software to switch the IMEI code of a mobile phone several times during a call, thus making the caller virtually untraceable.
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