The Posts and Telecommunications Division on Thursday sent a directive to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission to postpone the process, which was scheduled take effect this month.
“Many people connected to networks are facing struggles after the process began. Most of the phones being sold on the market are feature phones, and most of the customers have no idea about how to check a handset’s IMEI number,” said Telecom and IT Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
“We’ve created a database for mobile phone registration, but it was not aimed at shutting down handsets,” he said.
Manufacturers, importers and traders were warned against selling illegal handsets, otherwise, they will have to refund the customer and face legal action.
Customers were asked to check the legal status of a phone by typing “KYD<space>15 digit IMEI number” and sending the message to 16002, while users of mobile phones, which they either bought or received as a gift from abroad, were asked to register their handsets on neir.btrc.gov.bd.
“The database for mobile phones was done through NEIR. The National Board of Revenue will verify which phones arrived in Bangladesh illegally.