Illegal, cloned mobile phones won’t be disconnected for 90 days: Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb

No mobile phone users will face disconnection for using illegal or cloned handsets over the next 90 days, despite the rollout of the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR), said Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser for the Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Division.

In a Facebook post on Friday (January 2), Taiyeb urged users not to panic, clarifying that technical complications have temporarily caused discrepancies in handset data linked to national ID numbers (NIDs). He said the government has decided not to deactivate any device during this initial phase of NEIR implementation.

Explaining the issue, Taiyeb said nearly three billion datasets — including historical records — were collected from mobile operators. During data migration, many older records appeared as current entries, resulting in unusually high numbers of active devices showing against some NIDs.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and mobile operators are jointly working to resolve the issue, he said. Historical data will be gradually archived so that only currently active devices are displayed, a process expected to take some time.

Taiyeb acknowledged that such technical challenges are common during the launch of new digital platforms and said the system is undergoing revalidation with additional features.

He also noted that while up to 20 SIMs were previously allowed per NID — later reduced to 15 — the limit is now being brought down to 10, which has further contributed to data mismatches.

According to Taiyeb, NEIR will enhance transparency and help curb crimes such as mobile financial fraud and online gambling. To safeguard the database, secure digital tokens, rate limits, and mandatory NID verification have been introduced, with plans to add an extra security layer in the future.