{"id":125860,"date":"2026-09-23T15:15:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=125860"},"modified":"2026-09-23T15:15:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T09:45:54","slug":"international-mobile-equipment-identity-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/international-mobile-equipment-identity-number\/","title":{"rendered":"International Mobile Equipment Identity Number"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>International Mobile Equipment Identity Number Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s active wireless mobile subscriber base reached 1,204.01 million in July 2026 and it brings new security challenges i.e the misuse of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number or IMEI tampering.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>About International Mobile Equipment Identity Number<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a <\/span><b>unique 15-digit number<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that <\/span><b>identifies a mobile device<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on a telecom network.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>first eight digits<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of an IMEI <\/span><b>form the Type Allocation Code<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (TAC), which identifies the <\/span><b>device model or type.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Allocation of IMEI numbers:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The <\/span><b>Global System for Mobile Communications Association<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (GSMA) oversees the global allocation of TAC.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">GSMA allocate TACs to manufacturers and brand owners. Manufacturers then assign unique <\/span><b>IMEIs to individual devices.<\/b><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>dual-SIM phone generally<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has two IMEI numbers, one for each SIM slot.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Identification:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Users <\/span><b>can dial *#06#<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on their mobile device to display its IMEI number.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India&#8217;s IMEI Ecosystem<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Manufacturers: They must register<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> the IMEI numbers of all applicable telecom devices manufactured in <\/span><b>India with the Government<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before their first sale, testing, research or other use.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Registration is carried out through the <\/span><b>Device Setu\u2013Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) portal.<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Importers: They must register<\/b> <b>IMEI numbers on Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) portal with the Central Government<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> before importing applicable telecom equipment into India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Resellers and retailers<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: They also must ensure that telecom devices offered for sale have valid and untampered IMEI numbers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Brand owners<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: They must ensure that devices sold under their brands comply with <\/span><b>applicable IMEI registration<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and cybersecurity requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India\u2019s Legal Framework to Protect the Telecommunication Ecosystem<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>The Telecommunications Act, 2023<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: It provides <\/span><b>stringent action against tampering<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> with telecommunication identifiers, including the IMEI number of mobile handsets and other telecommunication devices.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Section 42(3)(c)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> prohibits <\/span><b>tampering with telecommunication<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> identifiers.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Section 42(3)(e)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> prohibits obtaining <\/span><b>Subscriber Identity Modules<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (SIMs) or telecommunication identifiers through fraud, cheating or impersonation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Violations may attract imprisonment for <\/span><b>up to three years<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, a <\/span><b>fine of up to \u20b950 lakh<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, or both. Such offences are cognizable and non-bailable under Section 42(7) of the Act.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Under Section 42(6),<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> persons who abet or promote the commission of such offences are also liable to the same punishment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source: <\/b><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pib.gov.in\/PressReleaseDetail.aspx?PRID=2313715&amp;reg=48&amp;lang=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">PIB<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>International Mobile Equipment Identity Number is a unique 15-digit number that identifies a mobile device on a telecom network.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":125906,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[10444],"class_list":["post-125860","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-prelims-current-affairs","tag-international-mobile-equipment-identity-number","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125860"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125860\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125915,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125860\/revisions\/125915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}