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BTRC moves to block illegal mobile handsets

Published : Thursday, 22 October, 2026 at 4:24 PM

Observer Online Report

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is planning to relaunch the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) in two phases from January 1, 2027, to prevent an estimated Tk 20 billion in annual revenue losses caused by the illegal production, smuggling and unauthorised sale of mobile phones.

The initiative also aims to detect cloned handsets and prevent fraud involving mobile financial services (MFS).

According to an assessment by the National Board of Revenue (NBR), the government loses around Tk 20 billion in revenue annually due to illegal mobile phones. The information was presented in a working paper at a BTRC commission meeting.

Under the plan, the core functions of NEIR will be introduced in the first phase, although handset deregistration will not be enforced at this stage. Handsets currently active on mobile operators' networks will be automatically registered.

The system will also include IMEI numbers of unsold handsets held by authorised importers and local manufacturers. It will be used to identify and block phones illegally brought into the country, smuggled or marketed after evading customs duties and taxes.

In the second phase, a handset deregistration mechanism will be introduced at an appropriate time. This phase aims to verify phone ownership, identify cloned handsets and prevent financial fraud.

At the BTRC commission meeting, the director general of its Spectrum Management (SM) division presented a detailed working paper on the proposed relaunch of NEIR.

The paper said that although the system was launched on a trial basis on July 1, 2021, key functions to automatically block illegally imported phones and prevent the use of cloned handsets were not introduced following a decision by the then government. As a result, the original objectives of NEIR have remained unfulfilled.

The BTRC's SM division will implement the plan. An official letter will be sent to the Posts and Telecommunications Division seeking prior government approval for the two-phase rollout.

Various agencies have long called for the full implementation of NEIR to prevent revenue evasion, ensure discipline in the telecommunications sector and address security risks.

On October 29, 2024, the NBR formally requested the BTRC to take action against revenue losses caused by illegal handsets. Later, on June 28, 2025, the Posts and Telecommunications Division granted initial approval to the plan to relaunch the system.

At a high-level inter-ministerial meeting on December 1, 2025, authorities directed that NEIR be fully implemented across all networks in the country. Although preparations were underway to launch the system on January 1, 2026, key handset-blocking measures were not enforced to avoid public inconvenience.

On June 9, 2026, security agencies formally highlighted economic and national security risks in a letter and stressed the need for full implementation of NEIR. An inter-ministerial meeting on July 2 that year also recommended full implementation, citing risks involving IMEI numbers, SIM registration and fraud through mobile financial services.

Most recently, representatives from the Posts and Telecommunications Division, Bangladesh Bank and law enforcement agencies attended a high-level meeting chaired by the home minister on September 22. The meeting recommended launching NEIR in two phases from January 1, 2027.

According to the decisions taken at the meeting, unregistered, stolen and cloned handsets are being used in organised crime, mobile phone theft and MFS fraud. Security agencies believe full implementation of NEIR is necessary to ensure the identification and accountability of every device operating on mobile networks.

Meanwhile, the BTRC has also approved a phased roadmap to discontinue the use of mobile handsets supporting only second-generation (2G) networks by December 2029. Under the plan, restrictions will be imposed on the approval, production, import and marketing of such handsets.

-MT