Bangladesh鈥檚 interim government is set to launch the National Equipment Identity Register on December 16, marking a major crackdown on unauthorised mobile handsets.
Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications, and Information Technology, revealed this information while speaking at a press briefing at the conference room of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission in Dhaka on Wednesday.
鈥楾he NEIR system will be launched on December 16. NEIR is a centralised system that will register each mobile handset鈥檚 internationally approved IMEI number by linking it to the user鈥檚 national identity card and the SIM card being used,鈥� he said.
鈥楾hrough NEIR, legal and illegal handsets can be identified easily. Once this system is in operation, the use of illegally imported or counterfeit mobile phones will be stopped,鈥� he added.
Taiyeb also cited a 2024 report from Bangladesh Bank, which revealed that 73% of digital fraud in the country involves illegal mobile devices.
He added that the NEIR initiative is expected to play a crucial role in combating mobile-based financial scams and SIM card fraud, and the National Board of Revenue estimates that unauthorised handsets cause a loss of Tk 500 crore annually in tax revenue.
Brigadier general Md Aminul Haque, director general of the BTRC Spectrum Division, mentioned that by December 16, all mobile phones currently active on the network will be automatically registered.
Any new phone connecting to the network will undergo a legality check. Illegal devices will be disconnected after a one-month grace period.
Only mobile handsets legally purchased or received as gifts from abroad will be allowed to remain active through a special registration process, the DG added.
Starting from December 16, if a registered handset needs to be sold or transferred, it must first be de-registered before being handed over to another user, he said.
BTRC chairman Md Emdad Ul Bari said that once NEIR is launched, both mobile phones and SIM cards can be easily identified, adding that work is under way to prepare guidelines in line with the existing telecom network policy.
Earlier, the NEIR initiative was first launched in 2021 but was later suspended due to technical challenges and concerns that blocking millions of unauthorised phones could cause public inconvenience.
