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[India] Cellphones Without a Valid IMEI Number Will Be Blocked Starting December 1

Close to 25 million cellphone subscribers could get disconnected because the Deparment of Telecom has asked cellphone operators to stop providing services to subscribers who don’t have a handset with valid IMEI. If you are new to the term IMEI, you might be interested in reading my previous post What is International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) code?

If you are one such subscribers who has a handset which doesn’t have an IMEI number or a valid IMEI number, you will be required to buy a new cellphone or go to any of the 1600 outlets which will be setup by the Cellular Operators Association of India. The outlets will be capable of implanting the IMEI number through a software. The COAI has tied up with Mobile Standard Alliance of India to set up retail outlets for this purpose.

The ban is aimed at new handsets being imported through illegal channels, mostly from China and Taiwan.

Mr T.V. Ramachandran, Director-General, COAI, said that, “We are activating all the 1,600-outlets right away so that consumers can start implanting the IMEI numbers. However, we feel that the November 30 deadline will be tough to meet. We will ask the Government for more time.”

DoT officials, however, said that the chances of extending the deadline were remote since the Government had already pushed back the deadline twice. While the DoT move is aimed at addressing the security concerns, it will also hit the handset grey market.

But handset makers said that the DoT should have ordered an outright ban on illegal handsets and not allowed operators to implant the IMEI. “This is like legalising unauthorised colonies. There is also a danger that anti-social elements could use the software to tinker with the IMEI numbers and mislead the security agencies. But Mr Ramachandran said the software was fool-proof and tested by the security agencies.

“The ban on new handsets without IMEI is in the right direction but more needs to be done to weed out grey market phones,” said a handset maker.

Cellphones-without-IMEI-will-be-disconnected-from-1st-Dec

In the meanwhile, you can check if your cellphone has a valid 16 digit IMEI number or not by pressing *#06# on your cellphone.

Via

[Update] : How To Check Your Mobile Phone’s IMEI Validity :

  1. Find the IMEI number of your mobile handset by typing in *#06# on your mobile handset. Note down the IMEI number.
  2. Send the IMEI number you noted in step 1 to 53232. You will be charged Rs 3 for each SMS.

You should get a reply as ‘Success’, if your IMEI number is Valid, otherwise the reply would be indicated as ‘Invalid IMEI’.

If you have an invalid IMEI number, you can get a new IMEI number for your mobile phone at a price of Rs 199 through the GII Program by The Government Of India at the Authorized Genuine IMEI Implant(GII) Centers

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  5. [India] Starting Jan 1, Cellphone Numbers could have another 9

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 13th, 2009 at 9:23 am and is filed under India, Mobile. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

30 Responses to “[India] Cellphones Without a Valid IMEI Number Will Be Blocked Starting December 1”

  1. i am distributor of sky mobile but i do not that the imei no. of this mobile is valid or not so how can i know that the imei no. of the mobile is valid plzzzz send me the full information of this

  2. Send the IMEI number you noted in step 1 to 53232. You will be charged Rs 3 for each SMS

    (Toll free number 53232}??????

  3. i purchased a moto rokr z6 about 1 and a half years ago and today i got a message that it’s imei is not valid and it have only 15 digits not 16. is taht my fault or motorola’s

  4. should i file a case against motorola

  5. no center in hyderabad providing imei number.
    i have verified with the centers given in http://www.msai.in/listofcentre.php.
    why they are not providing the imei number?

  6. Hi Anand,

    There are lot of centers in Hyderabad which are providing IMEI number in Hyderabad. Some of them i could hold of are

    28 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Technovision Road No 12, Hi-Line Complex,Groundfloor,Banjrahills 9885018979
    29 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Dilsukh Electronics Shop.No 7, G1, Srigiri Complex, Dilsukhnagar, 9949945335
    30 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Mobile 21 G-4 S.S.Towers, Dilsukhnagar 9949945335
    31 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Amrit Gits And Novelties G-9, Ground Floor, Emerald House, S.D Road, Secunderabad 9849486026
    32 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Archana Mobiles Emerald House, Shop No. G3, Park Lane 9949945335
    33 Andhra Pradesh Secunderabad Shree Mobiles Shoppe Complex,Habsiguda X Road 9247136786
    34 Andhra Pradesh Secunderabad Sree Mobiles 2 C/8 Palika Bazar 2 Ii Alpha Hotel 9985125594
    35 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Teletech Communication Shopno29 Maheshwari Chambers Masabtank 9885034859
    36 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Teletech Mobiles 7-1-359,Saibab Temple Balkempet 9849036742
    37 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Teletech Mobiles 2 N0 6 Sai Saptagiri Residency Sanatnagar Busstop 9290127226
    38 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Paras N Paras G4,Aggarwal Chambers Kingkothi X Roads 9348366660
    39 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Bararia Mobiles 1-2-593/34,Surya Kiran Apts,Block.A, Flat No3,Damalguda,Himayath Nagar 9000005040
    40 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Ss Mobiles @Computers 7-133,Plotno8,A,Trinethra Supermarket Kothapet 9346327770
    41 Andhra Pradesh Secunderabad Ashok Electronics 3-3-245,Subash Road 9849886062
    42 Andhra Pradesh Secunderabad Ss Mobiles Malkajigiri Near Vaninagar Busstop 9866449677
    43 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Kings Mobile 6-3-902/7/3,Prem Dreamgate Suryanagar ,Rajabhavan Rd . 9848297212
    44 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Gates Mobile Accessories Plot No 36,Sbh Colony,New Bakaram,Gandhi Nagar 9849305356
    45 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Ess Bee Communication Plot No 19,Opp.Saibaba Temple,Alkapuri Colony 9290111112
    46 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Swara Madhuri Musisicals And E #5-11-11,Sanjay Gandhinagar,Shapur Nagar, 9391109067
    47 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad New Combiz Cell Point Shop.No.5-2-1/7/1/Aopp.Chaitanya Colllege,Kukatpally, 9948040334
    48 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Shree Gowri Agencies #16-6-11/8,Besidehotel Niagara,Chadarghat, 9391029722
    49 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad J.M.Mobile Choice #37-93/15,Madhuranagarcolony,Neredmet 9866025409
    50 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Safari Communication 10-3-105/1,Sln Plaza,Opp.Sdr Eye Hospital,Medhipatnam
    51 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Top Mobiles Shoppe 2-1-563/3,Opp.Sahnkar Math Temple,Nallakuntta 9866260927
    52 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad Konika Gifts And Novelties #5-8-659/6,Abid Circle,Nampally,Station Road, 9849896366
    53 Andhra Pradesh Hyderabad On Line Mobiles Shop No 2,Utilitronics Complex,Near Round Building,Ecil.X.Road

  7. sir,i have a china mobile which have the duel sim system and two imei no.how i know its validity?if its a invalid one what can i do for validity?

  8. sir,i have a iosound(Akasaki) mobile which have the duel sim system and two imei no.one imei no. is valid but second imei no. is not valid pls suggest what can i do?

  9. My number is 91 9974181176 i send a ImeiNumber 53232 My balance in cut rs 3 but i m not success….i receive sms Invalid key ”
    so plz hel p

  10. i m having iphone 3g which shows invalid imei no…will it work after paying Rs 199 through the GII Program by The Government Of India at the Authorized Genuine IMEI Implant(GII) Centers

  11. sir,i have a china mobile which have the duel sim system and two imei no.how i know its validity?if its a invalid one what can i do for validity?

  12. Sir,My china cell phone has Two IMEI NUMBERS which have declared as “Succesful” on sending to SMS to “53232″ with my IMEI Numbers. But the service providers Aircell doubted their validity and they commented that the IMEI numbers may not be genuine. GII centres has expressed their inability to check up its genuines. My humble request is that you please advise me to find a solution.
    Thanking you,
    cn subramanian

  13. Hi

    Really Good Information..

    Cheers

  14. Hi,

    Can anybody help me how do I get IMEI no for my SonyEricsson mobile.

  15. Akhilesh Sharma on November 26th, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    Dear Sir,I have contacted GII listed centres in Budaun and BareillyUP but they are saying that related softwere is still not recived by them,Is any confirmed centre in Bareiily/Budaun UP

  16. where is the gii center in hydrabad

  17. You can find list of GII Center’s at http://www.msai.in/listofcentre.php

  18. Hi,

    I have a motorola Razr V8 phone. I have been getting a messages from Vodafone saying my IMEI is invalid and I negected since I could see my valid IMEI no which I validated with the MSAI website. I had even sent a message to 53232 and got a success but even then i am getting messages that the phone will be barred starting 1st Dec. The vodafone people cant help me as it is not a service issue. I even went to a few authorized service centers for the IMEI implant and they told me that the motorola phone are valid. I am pretty sure they are going to stop my phone tonight. Please help.

  19. sir,
    i neglected to taking my second imei number.my handset is blocked from dec 01. nobody sold imei numbers now. how can i get new imei number sir, plese help sir

  20. Have you tried going to the centre? you can get the list at msai.in/listofcentre.php

  21. i have mobile shop in jagdish market hyderabad i want to setup service center of imei so help me soon by giving me support

  22. Hello All,

    We provide genuine IMEI number at reasonable rate of any quantity.

    If needed, call us immediately at 9618058715,9030500016,9700280005

    Ayub Khan

  23. Hi Ali,

    Please contact us at 9618058715 if you need IMEI number for your service center.

    We can give the maximum you need.Actually, we get the numbers from Chennai which are genuine.

    Ayub Khan

  24. For motorola Users (just do one thing get your moto handset software updated from nearest moto service center your problem gets resolved after updatiing the software)

  25. where is the centers in mathura uttarpradesh providing imei number.

  26. I have 3 dual-sim handsets. Each of the second line on the handset is barred. While the first line works properly. What can I do now ? I can I work out this imei issue ?

  27. hi,

    i have segmatel model mobile(china)with duel sim.But one sim is valid with imei another is invalid.In my mobile shown second sim is invalid.Please give the advise where can i get genuine imei.

    Very apreciatiable for your reply

  28. I want to register for imei in navi mumbai what do i do?
    please if anyone know then know me on my no.9870706612 or sms me.

  29. I have just got a dual Sim mobile from Bangkok……… It doesnt hav an IMEI number… How can i get a new IMEI number…….. i stay at Hyderabad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PlS HELP ME!!!!!!

  30. [...] India earlier banned several Chinese Mobile Phones which didnt have a valid IMEI number. [...]

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