What is IMEI
IMEI is a unique identification number assigned to each sim slot in every phone.Whenever we place a sim card in GSM phone.It also forwards the IMEI to network provider.In most of the countries carrier lock and theft protection is provided via IMEI as it is unique and each mobile operator is assigned with a specific code in the start of IMEI (e.g.iPhone IMEI starts with 3532).
What is fake/duplicated IMEI
Fake or duplicated IMEI is an IMEI which is copied from another phone and then it is inserted into another phone.This type of duplication is done to make a phone work which is blocked by network providers in a country or globally.Most of the GSM providers now have the ability to detects the fake/duplicated IMEI and it quickly blocks these phones with duplicated IMEI
How many IMEI one phone can have
IMEI is assigned to each sim slow of any mobile phone.So if a phone has dual sim support then it will have 2 IMEI.Each IMEI is associated to one sim slot.You can check all the IMEI associated with a mobile phone by dialing *#06#
What is IMEI Registration
In the end of 2018 Govt of Pakistan introduced a new policy to register all the IMEIs of phone which are being operated in Pakistan.This step was taken to make sure that all the phones which are being used in Pakistan are not smuggled and tax is paid on them.Time of 2 -3 months was given to existing users to put a sim card on any of the mobile which they haven’t used for a long time so PTA can detect the IMEI and add it to their database.Once the IMEI is registered and added to PTA database it won’t be blocked.
Most of the companies who are officially launching their phones in Pakistan (e.g. samsung,infinix & realme). They are already getting all of their new phones registered by PTA and they put a text on the box of phone that the phone is PTA Approved.
All mobile phones which are brought from abroad should be registered via PTA otherwise those phones will stop working in 30 Days.
IMEI status of PTA
PTA has already launched a website, sms service & mobile app (android) to check the Status of IMEI, you should check the status of IMEI before buying a new phone.Followings are IMEI status which can be shown in results of PTA IMEI check.
- Compliant (PTA Approved/Registered)
- Non-Compliant
- Blocked
Please check our post on how to check the IMEI status of any mobile phone.
PTA Compliant (PTA Approved/Registered)
If you get a result of PTA Compliant in IMEI Search then it means that the IMEI of your phones is regstered and added to PTA database.No need to worry as this phone will continue working without any issue in future.If your phone has multiple IMEIs then please make sure that all the IMEIs are compliant.Following is the screenshot of PTA IMEI Compliant Status.
PTA Non-Compliant (Not Approved/Registered)
This status clearly shows then the IMEI is not registered & added to PTA database, this status means that the Tax on this phone is also not paid and you must have to pay the tax as per the price of the phone you want to get registered.PTA database also shows the name and model of phone in imei search results.PTA also maintains a database of retail price of different phones so the tax can be charged accordingly.As per our latest check the IMEI registration process is not handed over to mobile phone operators (ufone,mobilink,telenor & zong) so you will have visit the customer service centre of these providers.
Blocked IMEI
This status means that the IMEI is blocked which means that this phone can be blocked due to multiple reasons.It can be blocked because it was reported stolen or lost.Another reason can be a duplicated/fake IMEI which can lead this phone to be blocked by PTA.More details can be retrieved about this status by calling the support of PTA of writing an email.Following is the phone number of PTA
PTA Contact Number for Telecom related inquiries
0800 -55055 (9 am to 9 pm) (7 Days a week)
i want to know i have a phone samsung j8 dual sim.in my phone 1 sim is working and approved by PTA.
but other sim 2 is not approved while i bought this phone PTA approved.so can you please guide me what should i do for this problem.that both sim start working in my phone..please let me know i,m waiting ..
Sir, aoa. Nokia 106 V10.00.11. 14-19-18 was block due to IMEI cloned. How i complain