About 20 lakh of the 21 lakh iPhones used in Bangladesh have entered through grey or illegal channels, showing how deeply the market is flooded with unauthorised devices.
More broadly, about 60 per cent of all smartphones arrive in the country unofficially, according to industry representatives at a seminar in Dhaka on Thursday.
To curb the number of illegal handsets, the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) is set to take effect on Victory Day.
The move aims to help to detect unauthorised handsets and curb the black market, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission officials said at the programme organised by the Telecom and Technology Reporters Network Bangladesh.
However, all phones already active on mobile networks will remain functional.
Speakers at the event said nearly 10 lakh cloned handsets share duplicate IMEI numbers, creating major security and consumer risks.
They also said buyers of such devices lose warranties and after-sales support, while criminal groups increasingly rely on unregistered phones for fraud, social crimes and identity manipulation.
Users will be able to deregister devices through a USSD code using the last four digits of their SIM, BTRC Director General Aminul Haque said while explaining NEIR implementation.
He said unused devices may be activated before 16 December and urged buyers to verify IMEI numbers by sending them to 16002 before making purchases.
Abdullah Al Harun Raju, president of the Mobile Phone Distributors Association, said NEIR enforcement will not raise handset prices.
He added that only 500 to 1,000 traders operate in the grey market, while 18,000 to 20,000 sellers follow legal channels.
BTRC Commissioner Mahmud Hossain said the regulator is monitoring smartphone prices to prevent unjustified market disruption.
Smartphone penetration will not increase without rationalising taxes on the mobile industry, Mobile Phone Industry Owners Association of Bangladesh President Zakaria Shahid said.
Bangladesh has 17.13 crore mobile devices in circulation, with smartphones accounting for sixty-four percent and feature phones thirty-six percent.
Smartphones are subject to around 57 percent duties and taxes when imported, local production more than halves it. On the other hand, black market phones are available at cheaper prices as they escape duties.
Bangladesh allows travellers to bring two mobile phones with them while arriving in the country and over a crore expatriate Bangladeshis tend to bring phones from low tax countries.
Besides, organized black market importers are also active in the country.
TRNB Organising Secretary Al Amin Dewan delivered the welcome speech, and TRNB President Sameer Kumar Dey moderated the discussion.
The seminar was attended by Bangladesh Police Additional Deputy Inspector General Md Zahidul Islam, Mobile Phone Distributors Association of Bangladesh President Abdullah Al Harun Raju, Bangladesh Computer Association President Mohammad Zahirul Islam, Synesis IT Chief Strategy Officer Aminul Bari and Nagad Vice President Zahidul Islam.
