Indian regulator calls for clampdown on fake ID phones

The Indian telecoms regulator wants to make mobile phone importers show certification to stop the rise in fake IMEI numbers, local media reports.

Proliferation of mobile phones with cloned IMEI (international mobile equipment identity) numbers has prompted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to consider pushing for action.

"TRAI will soon write to the Commerce Ministry to ban such phones. Import of only those cell phones should be allowed which are certified by GSMA and TIA authorised bodies for GSM and CDMA handsets respectively," an unnamed official told Press Trust of India (PTI).

In 2009 India banned the import of mobile phones with fake identification numbers but PTI reports a test of a telecom service area revealed 18,000 handsets were using the same IMEI.

After the apparent failure of the 2009 legislation TRAI wants to make importers of handsets show certification from a body authorised by telecommunications industry groups GSMA or TIA. The move could strengthen the enforcement of the existing ban on imports.