Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA) has implemented a mobile device management system or IMEI registration from Friday. The regulatory body has stated that this system has been made mandatory in all types of mobiles, which is considered to be helpful in preventing the import of mobiles from abroad and finding the lost mobiles easily.
IMEI is a unique identifying code. According to the NTA, a policy of IMEI registration has been taken to phase out unregistered mobiles from July.
IMEI is already registered on mobiles bought by paying VAT from a mobile shop in Nepal. The IMEI number on the gift mobile or the mobile brought from outside the customs system is not linked to the authority’s system. NEA has also requested to connect the mobile to the system as it can be switched off at any time if it is not connected to the system. To know the IMEI of mobile, one can dial * # 06 # and register / not register at https://eir.nta.gov.np/.
There is no fee to register for IMEI now. However, the authority has prepared a by-law, MDMS. Even though they are preparing to fix a tariff, it has not been yet decided.
According to NTA, after registering IMEI, the mobile is connected to the system of the authority.
Once connected to this system, it is easy to control the mobile brought without paying customs duty. If the user loses his mobile at any time, the lost mobile could also be found. So, according to the authority, this is a multi-purpose technology.