- The Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) is a new tool to help track your lost or stolen mobile phone.
- It can also be used to block your phone which will make it unusable in any network in India.
- CEIR is launching all over India today after a successful pilot run in select cities.
It’s almost impossible to get your lost or stolen mobile phone back. Even with multiple tools available, actually recovering a phone that was stolen or lost seems very unlikely. But it will now get easier to do so as the government of India has come up with a helpful tool for citizens to track their lost or stolen mobile phones. The new tool is called the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) system, and it has been developed by the Centre for Department of Telematics (CDoT). CEIR not only helps you track your lost phone but it will also let you block it if required.
CDoT, which is the government’s telecommunications technology development centre, has been pilot-testing CEIR in select states including Delhi, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and the Northeast. The system is now available for people to use all over India starting May 17th. On the CEIR website, it is claimed that 4,79,511 mobile phones have been blocked so far, and 2,43,404 mobile phones have been traced till date, as part of the pilot.
How to block/report your lost/stolen mobile phone
CEIR has been developed to help people track, and block their lost or stolen phones. It uses the IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number, which is a unique identification number that every phone has. If you’ve lost your phone then you will have to submit its IMEI number to the CEIR portal.
In addition to this, CEIR can also block your lost or stolen phone which will make it unusable in all telecom operators in India. If anyone tries to use your phone after it’s blocked, its traceability will be automatically generated. You can always unblock your phone from the portal once you find it back. Also, even if your phone is blocked the police can still track it. There is a slightly lengthy process to go block your phone though.
- First, you’ll have to report the stolen or lost mobile phone to the police and get a digital copy of the report.
- Then you’ll have to get a duplicate SIM card for the lost number since an OTP is required while submitting the request to block your phone.
- You can then head to the portal and fill out the form to block your phone. Details about the phone, its invoice, police report and identity verification are required for the form.
- Once you’re done filling up the form you will get a Request ID through which you can check the status of your request and also to unblock it later.
You can find all tools to block your lost or stolen phone, unblock it, and check the request status on the CEIR website itself. There’s also a tool to check the validity of your mobile phone by submitting its IMEI number. This will tell you if the phone has been blacklisted, it’s duplicate or it has been already in use.
