19th September 2022, Kathmandu
The Nepal Telecommunication Authority made it mandatory to register the IMEI number of every mobile phone entering Nepal. Recently the authority also implemented Mobile Device Management System (MDMS).
The authority has implemented MDMS to control the problem of unauthorized or illegal import of mobile phones in Nepal. There is a provision that only IMEI registered numbers in the authority will also be registered in MDMS.
Due to this, the authority is repeatedly giving instructions to register mobiles without IMEI registration. The IMEI number can be registered by visiting the Authority’s website https://eir.nta.gov.np.
To register, one has to fill in the person’s name, IMEI, mobile brand, model number, address, contact number, email ID and citizenship, passport or identity card number, and upload the photo.
But now the authority is having some issues with its website. After completing all the processes, the website does not give any indication while ‘submitting’, the customer complains.
‘My sister sent me a phone call from abroad. Just put the SIM in last Friday. The IMEI number was not registered,’ said a customer complaining about the website not working, ‘I have been trying to register the number since Friday. Not happening.’
There are other complaints that the authority’s website is not working properly. We asked the authority’s chairman Purushottam Khanal about this.
He said, ‘many customers across the country are running the website at the same time trying to register a number. So there is a problem in the system. Our technical team is working on it. We will solve the problem in two-three days.’
After the 30th of Bhadra, the authority has set a deadline of 15 days to register the phones sent/imported illegally or from abroad in the MDMS system. But how will the phone be registered in the MDMS system during that period without the IMEI number being registered?
In response to this question, Surya Prasad Lamichhane, information officer of the authority, said, ‘We will solve the problem in a few days. If not today, then tomorrow.’
According to him, many consumers have registered their IMEI numbers and informed the authority.
If this problem is not solved, it cannot be said that phones sent from abroad will not be suddenly blocked. If this happens, the customer will have to face another problem. But Lamichhane says that the phone will work again after registration.
The phone can be used after registration. Block means to disable the SIM in that phone. Once the phone is registered in the MDMS, the SIM will work,” said information officer Lamichhane.
The IMEI number of validly imported phones is registered with the authority. IMEI number registration means phone registration in MDMS. The authority has whitelisted phones that have been entered in any way and operated with a SIM until the 30th of Bhadra. That means those phones are already registered in MDMS.
But after that day, it is necessary to register phones that have entered Nepal illegally, brought by someone from abroad, or sent from abroad. For this, first, the person has to register the IMEI number on his phone. Every SIM-enabled device has a 15-digit IMEI number. These numbers do not match each other.
You can check whether your phone is registered with MDMS or not by visiting the official portal of MDMS Click Here.
