Good news of the day: Very soon people will be able to block and track mobile phones with new system by Government

About the new system:

The Centre is coming out with a new system that will allow the common man to block and track their lost mobile phones.

The new system is likely to be launched this week. As per the tentative date, an official hinted that the CEIR system would be launched on 17 May.

Words from government official:

"Technology development body Centre for Department of Telematics (CDoT) has been running the pilot of the CEIR system in some of the telecom circles, including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and North East region, and the system is now ready for pan-India deployment," an official from Department of Telecommunication said.

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

Words from Rajkumar Upadhyay:

Chief Executive Officer and Chairman Project Board at CDoT Rajkumar Upadhyay did not confirm the date but told the news agency that the technology is ready for pan-India deployment. Upadhyay added:

"The system is ready, and now it will be deployed across India, in this quarter. This will enable people to block and track their lost mobile phones. One of the common practices is that miscreants change the IMEI number of stolen mobile phones which prevents tracking and blocking of such handsets. It was a national security issue. The CEIR will be able to block any cloned mobile phones on the network with the help of various databases."

How people will track lost mobile phones through this system?

This would be possible because of the IMEI number. Since the government has already made it mandatory to disclose the IMEI -- a 15-digit unique numeric identifier -- of mobile devices before their sale in India. As a result, 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.

Telecom operators and the CEIR system will have visibility into the IMEI number of the device and the mobile number linked to it, and the information is being used in some states to track your lost or stolen mobiles through CEIR.

Usually, miscreants change IMEI number of stolen mobile phones which prevents tracking and blocking of such handsets. Now under the system, the CEIR will be able to block any cloned mobile phones on the network with the help of various databases.

In the event that the lost or stolen phone is recovered, the user can unblock the device by accessing the CEIR website's unblock option and providing the Request ID along with other necessary details.

Why Indian Government is allowing the common man to block and track their lost phones?

The basic purpose of CEIR is to ease reporting of stolen and lost mobiles and block the use of mobiles all over the country. This will discourage the theft of mobile phones, enable the tracing of the stolen and lost mobiles to the police, detection of cloned or counterfeit mobiles, restrict the use of such cloned mobiles, as well as protect the interest of the consumers by making them aware of the information related to fake and cloned mobile phones.

Apple already has a system to track lost mobile phones with the help of Apple ID. However, the system could be a gamechanger for Android users.

Recently, Karnataka Police recovered and handed over more than 2,500 lost mobile phones to their owners using the CEIR system.

With the new system in place, it will be futile to use stolen mobile phones.