The long-awaited National Equipment Identity Register service is set to be officially launched across the country on December 16, marking Victory Day, said Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology.
Taiyeb revealed this information while speaking at a press briefing at the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission conference room in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The NEIR system will help curb mobile financial service fraud, e-KYC forgery, SIM-related scams, and other digital crimes, according to the BTRC.
It will also enhance telecom sector security and ensure government revenue protection.
Most MFS fraud, scams, digital crimes and cases of online sexual harassment are conducted through mobile phones and law enforcers face challenges because one individual can possess multiple SIM cards, Taiyeb said.
Citing data from Bangladesh Bank, he said that 73 per cent of MFS-related fraud involved unauthorised mobile devices.
鈥極nce implemented, this system will also help reduce mobile phone snatching and prevent an estimated Tk 500 crore in annual revenue losses,鈥� he said, adding that with NEIR in place, grey-market handsets would be blocked from operating.
Brigadier General Md Aminul Haque, director general of BTRC spectrum division, presented how the NEIR system would function.
He said that mobile handsets connected to towers would be categorised as white, black, grey or roaming.
All devices currently in use will be automatically registered against their SIM cards once the system goes live 鈥� meaning even cloned or illegal phones will be temporarily registered.
When a device changes hands, it must be de-registered through the BTRC website, where the entire process will be managed, he added.
To check handset IMEI validity, users can send a message to 16002 and for registration and messages can be sent to 16161.
