DoT seeks mandatory FIR for lost mobile cases

With increasing incidents of criminals using stolen mobiles for anti-social activities, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has asked the Home Ministry to explore the possibility of getting mandatory FIR registered for stolen mobile handset and blocking it immediately to prevent any misuse.

The DoT in a recent letter to the ministry also said that this would not only prevent its reuse, but will also help reduce mobile thefts.

At present, filing an FIR is not compulsory for a stolen handset. Normally in many cases, those who lose their mobile handsets ask the service provider to block the SIM card and request for a new one.

In some cases, affected customers lodge a complaint with the police who only give an acknowledgement without filing an FIR. Blocking can be done either based on a report received from the police or on the request made by the customer directly to the service providers by putting the IMEI under the blacklist.

Once these stolen/lost handsets are put under the blacklist, it would not be possible for the person in possession of these handsets to use them, the DoT added.