PRESS: Russia may impose IMEI number pay registration from mid-2021

MOSCOW, Apr 28 (PRIME) -- Russia could introduce an obligatory pay registration of mobile devices by International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number from July 1, 2021, business daily Kommersant reported on Tuesday citing a revised bill of a group of senators.

Three sources on the connection market said the bill is passing a final agreement at the president’s administration and will be then submitted to the State Duma, the parliament’s lower house.

The document has been discussed since January 2019. It is supposed that importers of smartphones, including those who buy devices abroad, will be obliged to register gadgets by the IMEI number.

The new version says the government will set the order and the size of payment for registration, which was earlier capped with 100 rubles.

The devices that will be used when the initiative takes effect can be registered for free, and the rule will not apply to smartphones and other devices with SIM cards purchased for state and municipal needs.

Mobile operators will be able to block equipment that will not be registered or whose IMEI number will be wrong. Operators will be able to block lost or stolen gadgets from January 1, 2024.

(74.4960 rubles – U.S. $1)

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