Lost Your Mobile Phone? Now You Can Report & Block the SIM Card

This unique project promises to make sure that mobile users can stop worrying about their SIM cards getting cloned.

For representation purpose. 

(Photo: iStock)

There is good news for people who are paranoid about losing or having their mobile phone stolen. Now if your phone is lost or stolen anywhere, the Indian government will help you find it.

For this, Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s Information and Technology Minister, last week launched a web portal at an event in Mumbai.

This portal will help in detecting a stolen phone or lost phone. For this, the Department of Second Communications has started the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) project.

This project has been prepared to block stolen or lost phones on all mobile networks. We already know that every mobile has a unique number for its identity, termed as IMEI number. However, some of you may not be aware that this number can be changed by IMEI number cloning.

After cloning, many phones can be used on the same IMEI number. Such cases of cloning the IMEI number have been repeatedly found by the telecom department, which is where the new portal plans on coming to the rescue of mobile users.

What the CEIR Project Plans on Solving?

• Root out mobile piracy
  
• Lost or stolen phone detection
  
• Stopping duplicate IMEI numbers on network
  
• Improve quality of service
  
• Call drop problem
  

How to Make Complaints?

If your phone is lost or stolen, then first go to the police station and file an FIR. After this, give information to the Telecommunications Department.

For this call the helpline number 14422. After verification, the department will blacklist the phone, so that your lost or stolen phone will not be used further.

After this, if someone tries to use mobile by installing another SIM, then the service provider will identify the new user and inform the police.

But First, A Reality Check

We decided to visit CEIR website and get a closer look at how the Indian government plans on executing this useful service.

Sadly, the website didn’t open for us, even after trying to do so over the past couple of days. We even cross-checked on different networks, but the portal refused to open.

(Photo: CEIR.gov.in screen grab)

The other concern we have with the CEIR website is that it uses .gov.in URL and even then it doesn’t carry basic security standards for a website. It does not have the "https” prefix, which secure sites have.

These are two red flags for any website, let alone, being associated with a government entity. 

We’re hopeful that gradually the website will get its security upgraded, and most telcos in the country will partner for this unique, but a much-needed project.