savramesh 37 Report post Posted June 18, 2009 Business Line Thursday, Jun 18, 2009 New Delhi, June 17 In a move that could signal the end of grey market mobile phones, the Government on Wednesday banned import of all handsets without the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number. IMEI is a unique 15-digit code that identifies a mobile. It prevents the use of stolen handsets for making calls and allows security agencies to track down a specific user. However, a majority of handsets sold in the grey market do not come with the IMEI, which has is of concern for security agencies. The Government move to ban handsets without the code will hit a number of Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers that were flooding cheap handsets in the grey market. The move will have no impact on the 25 million cellular users who already have bought a handset without IMEI. The ban is applicable only on new handsets being imported into the country. The Director-General of Foreign Trade issued the notification on Wednesday imposing the ban with immediate effect. Welcoming the decision, Mr Pankaj Mohindroo, President, Indian Cellular Association, said, “This is a step in the right direction to throttle handset grey market. However, much more needs to be done to tackle this menace. We are working with the Government in this regard.” To protect consumers who have already bought handsets without the IMEI number, the Cellular Operators Association of India has tied up with Mobile Standard Alliance of India to set up 1,600 retail outlets across the country to provide the IMEI number on handsets without one. It is estimated that there are 25 million subscribers across the country using handsets without the IMEI number. Concerned over the national security, the Department of Telecom had earlier asked operators to disconnect services to handsets that do not have the IMEI number by April 15. However, the COAI, representing the GSM industry, has developed a software that will provide the unique number to instruments that do not have it. The solution is being implemented with the approval of the DoT and the security agencies. Subscribers who do not avail themselves of this facility will be disconnected by the operators after June 30. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
savramesh 37 Report post Posted June 18, 2009 Press Trust of India New Delhi, June 16 (PTI) India today announced a slew of restrictions on imports of certain mobile phones, dairy products and toys which will mainly hit China. Concerns were raised over usage of phones without IMER, after the terrorist attacks like the one in Mumbai in November last year and they are seen as a serious threat to security. In a separate notification, DGFT, the nodal agency which frames India's export and import polices, said shipments of toys that do not meet international safety standards and norms from countries across the world is banned till January 2010. Earlier in January, India had prohibited import of toys from China on health grounds. The restriction was, however, eased later. Today's widening of curbs assumes significance as Beijing had questioned India for not implementing safety standard norms on toys being imported from other countries. DGFT also said imports of toys accompanied by a certificate from laboratories accredited to the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) would be allowed. PTI Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
