The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted time to mobile companies to make certain the adequate strategy for blockage of unregistered mobile phones; the court directed Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to resolve the issue with the help of mobile telecommunication companies.
The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah took up the petition filed by some private mobile companies who sought time/extension in deadline set by PTA for blocking unregistered mobile phones through Device Identification, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).
The companies claimed in the petition that the given deadline by PTA till March 29 was quite insufficient to fix this problem.
In his remarks, the CJ Minallah said that “the stance of the companies is correct and the PTA should mend the issue on priority basis while extending its previous deadline”.
The companies claimed in the petition that the given deadline by PTA till March 29 was quite insufficient to fix this problem
The petitioners said that it is very important to do an awareness campaign in the public before blockage of consumers’ unregistered phones. The CJ Minallah responded that it was accurate point insisted by the companies.
The PTA’s officials assured the court to make some logical solution of the issue. Over which the court referred the matter to the PTA.
A couple of months ago, the PTA introduced DIRBS, under which it was mandatory for each mobile consumer to resister his/her phone with PTA through this system. It was said that all unregistered mobile phones would become unusable.
The purpose of the new introduced system was to combat the use of smuggled or counterfeit sets which either serve to reduce tax revenues for the state or pose health problems to unsuspecting consumers. It was said that device identification system aims to tackle use of fake or smuggled sets which pose health hazards as well.
The technology, the PTA claimed, will help the authorities counter the issue of counterfeit devices that adversely affects the government, mobile phone operators, distributors and consumers.
On that time the PTI asked consumers to buy only PTA-approved phone sets after initial fixed date that was October 20 which was later extended until March 29. After the decision, some national and multination mobile companies approached the IHC, requested for more extension in the given deadline as they to make consumer fully aware in this regard, was difficult in short time span.
Under DIRBS, a consumer was asked to text the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number printed on the box of a new handset to 8484. While he or she should pay for the purchasing handset only after receiving reply that the set is compliant with the regulatory standards.
The PTA also had said it had legalized around 160 million compliant and non-complaint mobile devices, active on all the networks, before the launch of DIRBS. All these devices would not face any service interruption as they would not be blocked by DIRBS.
The authority put the condition also on such consumers who purchase handsets abroad. They have been instructed to register them in Pakistan by logging onto the PTA’s DIRBS website.