NEIR: Dozens of mobile phones registered under single NIDs raise concern

Many people have been astonished and worried after seeing 30–40 mobile phones registered against their name in the National Equipment Identification Register (NEIR), which shows how many mobile handsets are associated with an individual’s National Identity Card (NID).

A person named Masum Billah Bhuiyan wrote on his verified Facebook page that 53 mobile phones have been registered using his NID.

Of these, 42 were registered in the current month of December alone, even though he last purchased a mobile phone in the country four years ago.

Another individual, Tofael Khan, wrote on Facebook that 31 mobile phones had been purchased in his name stating, “There is no security for your or my personal information.”

The National Equipment Identification Register (NEIR) was launched on Thursday, making mobile handset registration mandatory.

According to the government, the objectives include preventing tax evasion, stopping the entry of illegal and counterfeit mobile phones into the country and supporting crime control.

At the same time, the government has decided to reduce import duties to ensure that the prices of legally imported mobile phones decrease.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has stated that with the introduction of NEIR, illegally imported phones will no longer be usable on mobile networks.

In addition, the business of selling old phones brought into the country illegally from abroad will also be shut down.

Following the launch of NEIR, individuals can check how many mobile phones are registered in their name by visiting https://neir.btrc.gov.bd/. Many users have found that 30–40 mobile phones are listed against their name.

To address the confusion, Faiz Ahmed Taiyeb, special assistant to the chief adviser in charge of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, posted a message on Facebook yesterday, Friday afternoon.

He wrote that more than 300 crore data sets had been received from mobile network operators. In other words, operators uploaded all information into the system, including historical data.

However, because the migration date has been shown as the current date, the number of active SIMs or handsets linked to some NIDs appears unusually high.

Faiz Ahmed further stated that the BTRC and mobile operators are working jointly on the issue.

Gradually, older data will be archived in the background and only the number of currently active mobile phones will be displayed. This process will take some time.

Noting that the system is not new, Faiz Ahmed said that NEIR was first attempted in 2021. At that time, Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) had been conducted.

However, a new round of VAPT has now been instructed. The system launched in 2021 has been reactivated with additional features.

BTRC officials explained that within the BTRC system, a mobile phone’s IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is not directly linked to an NID; rather, it is linked through SIM cards.

This means that the IMEI numbers of all mobile phones in which SIMs purchased using a particular NID have been used are associated with that NID.

Similarly, if multiple SIM cards are registered under one NID, the IMEI numbers of all mobile phones used with those SIMs, both in the past and at present, are now listed together.

BTRC chairman Major General (Retd) Md Emdad ul Bari told Prothom Alo, “There is no need to panic over NEIR. The government has not done anything new; we are simply surfacing existing information.”

He added that the NEIR process has not been suspended. Some technical complications are occurring at the initial stage and therefore customers’ patience and cooperation are required.

Beyond historical data, some people are also seeing phone registrations under their name dated December of last month, even though they did not purchase any phones or use their SIMs in other devices during December.

BTRC officials said that in many cases, someone else registers SIM cards using another person’s NID without their knowledge.

As a result, multiple SIMs and handsets may appear under one individual’s name. This issue is causing the greatest concern among the public.

At present, a large proportion of mid-range and high-end smartphones in the country are brought in through tax evasion. This is because high tax rates significantly increase local prices.

These phones are commonly known as “unofficial” devices. For example, at the authorised sales outlet of a well-known brand, a popular model is priced at Tk 60,000, whereas the same phone is available at a neighbouring shop for Tk 38,000.

Due to this price difference, consumers are more inclined to purchase unofficial mobile phones. As a result, local mobile phone assembly and manufacturing factories are being adversely affected.

Manufacturers state that the annual demand in the country is approximately 10 million (1 crore) smartphones and around 25 million (2.5 crore) feature phones.

Illegal mobile phones account for about 40 per cent of the total market, which is valued at approximately Tk 60 billion (600 crore). Fake mobile phones are also being imported.

It was largely due to pressure from companies that, in 2021, the then Telecommunications Minister of the Awami League government, Mustafa Jabbar, initiated steps to introduce the NEIR system; however, the initiative was ultimately withdrawn.

The tax burden on mobile phone imports is approximately 61 per cent. The government has maintained this high rate of duties and taxes to protect domestic assemblers and manufacturers.

As a consequence, mobile phone prices in Bangladesh are significantly higher than in neighbouring countries, which has encouraged the trend of tax-evasive imports. Domestic companies had long been demanding the introduction of NEIR to curb tax evasion.

Alongside launching NEIR, the interim government has also taken steps to reduce taxes on mobile phones.

On Thursday, the chief adviser’s press secretary, Shafiqul Alam, announced the decision to reduce the tax burden from 61 per cent to approximately 43.5 per cent.

However, traders and shop owners who sell unofficial mobile phones have been protesting against the introduction of NEIR for a long time.

In response to these protests, the launch of NEIR was postponed from 16 December to 1 January 2026. Following its launch, on Thursday, the BTRC office in Agargaon, Dhaka, was attacked and vandalised.

Sources at the BTRC and mobile operators reported that following the launch of NEIR, approximately 1.1 million (11 lakh) SIM cards were deactivated.

After receiving complaints from customers and messages from mobile operators, the BTRC subsequently reactivated the SIM cards.

According to BTRC sources, at the time of launching NEIR, the commission collected a large volume of “historical data” (all data accumulated to date) from mobile operators.

It took approximately 24 hours for the system to become fully operational using this data. However, during this 24 hour period, the operators’ own databases continued to be updated.

As a result, a one-day time gap emerged between the data in the NEIR system and the operators’ current data.

When the system became active and began receiving updated information from operators, some unregistered or newly added data were initially blocked while passing through the prescribed process.

As a result, approximately 1.1 million (11 lakh) SIM cards or cases were temporarily suspended. This issue has since been resolved.

In the name of crime prevention, the government made biometric registration (including fingerprint verification) mandatory for mobile SIM cards in 2016.

However, it has been observed that fingerprints of ordinary citizens are being misappropriated under various pretexts to register SIM cards.

Despite numerous incidents of mobile phone fraud and crime, effective action is often not taken.

Professor B M Mainul Hossain of the Institute of Information Technology at the University of Dhaka told Prothom Alo that the explanation provided by Faiz Ahmed was not satisfactory.

He said the system should not have been launched without proper testing. According to him, the BTRC should explain the situation to the public through official notices, so that people understand what has actually happened and why so many mobile phones are appearing under one person’s name.

He further warned that if crimes are committed using mobile phones registered under an individual’s NID without their knowledge, there is a risk that the individual could be implicated.  

Professor B M Mainul Hossain also noted that once both SIM cards and phones are registered against an individual, profiling (collecting and storing detailed information about a person) becomes easier, creating greater scope for surveillance. Such practices, he said, are typically seen in a “police state.”