New Delhi: People will be able to block and track their lost or stolen phones across India thanks to the rollout of a tracking system by the government this week, a senior government official has said.

The Central Department of Telematics (CDoT) Technology Development Agency has piloted the CEIR system in several telecom circles including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka and the North East region, and the system is now ready for pan-wide deployment. -Indian, a DoT official, who did not wish to be identified, PTI said.

“The CEIR system is scheduled for a pan-India launch on May 17,” the official said.

When contacted, Rajkumar Upadhyay, Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of CDoT, did not confirm the date but confirmed that the technology was ready for pan-India deployment.

“The system is ready and will now be rolled out across India this quarter. This will allow people to block and track their lost phones,” Upadhyay said. CDoT was able to add a feature to check cloned phone usage on all telecom networks.

The government has made it mandatory to disclose the IMEI – a unique 15-digit numeric identifier – of mobile devices before they are sold in India. The mobile network will have access to a list of approved IMEI numbers which will check for unauthorized entry of the phone into their network.

Telcos and the CEIR system will have visibility into the device’s IMEI number and associated mobile number, and this information is used in some states to track your lost or stolen phone through CEIR.

“A common practice is for criminals to change the IMEI numbers of stolen phones, which prevents the tracking and blocking of said handsets. It is a matter of national security. CEIR will be able to block cloned phones on the network using various databases,” Upadhyay said.

The fundamental objective of CEIR is to facilitate the reporting of stolen and lost cell phones and to block the use of cell phones throughout the country. This will prevent the theft of cell phones, enable tracking of stolen and lost phones to the police, detection of cloned or counterfeit phones, restrict the use of these cloned phones, and protect the interests of consumers by informing them of information about the phones. counterfeit and cloned. .

Recently, Karnataka Police found and returned 2,500 missing cell phones to their owners using the CEIR system. Apple already has a system in place to track lost phones using Apple ID, but the main problem is with Android phones.

With the new system, it would be a waste to use a stolen cell phone.

“The system has a built-in mechanism which will also check the smuggling of mobile phones and also help the government avoid revenue loss in the coffers,” Upadhyay added.