Indian government launches CEIR tracking system for lost or stolen mobile phones

In a move to combat mobile phone theft, the Indian government is rolling out a tracking system that will enable people to block and track their lost or stolen mobile phones across the country. The Centre for Department of Telematics (CDoT), a technology development body, has been running the pilot of the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system in some of the telecom circles, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Northeast region, and it is now ready for pan-India deployment, a senior government official told PTI.

The CEIR system, which is scheduled for pan-India launch on May 17, will enable people to block and track their lost mobile phones. The system has been designed to discourage mobile phone theft and facilitate the tracing of lost or stolen mobiles to the police, detection of cloned or counterfeit mobiles, and restriction of the use of such cloned mobiles. Furthermore, the CEIR system will safeguard the interests of consumers by providing them with information related to fake and cloned mobile phones, thereby preventing them from falling prey to fraudulent activities.

"CEIR system is scheduled for pan-India launch on May 17," the official said.

The CEIR system is equipped with an in-built mechanism that allows it to detect the use of cloned mobile phones across all telecom networks, thereby aiding the government in preventing revenue loss to the exchequer. To this end, the government has mandated that the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number, a 15-digit unique numeric identifier, be disclosed prior to the sale of mobile devices in India. The mobile networks will have access to the list of approved IMEI numbers, which will check the entry of any unauthorised mobile phones on their network.

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The CEIR system will provide telecom operators with access to both the IMEI number of the device and the associated mobile number, which is already being utilized in specific states to locate lost or stolen mobiles via the CEIR system. It's common for perpetrators to modify the IMEI number of stolen mobile phones, which obstructs the tracking and blocking of such devices. Nonetheless, the CEIR system can prevent cloned mobile phones from being utilised on the network with the help of several databases.

Recently, the Karnataka Police used the CEIR system to recover and hand over more than 2,500 lost mobile phones to their owners. While Apple has already established a system for tracking lost mobile phones through the use of Apple ID, Android mobile phones have been plagued by major issues in this regard. With the implementation of the new CEIR system, however, the use of stolen mobile phones will become futile.

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