Mobile traders call off blockade as regulator agrees to NEIR reforms

Mobile phone traders
have suspended their blockade in front of the Bangladesh Telecommunication
Regulatory Commission (BTRC) until tomorrow after the regulator agreed to
reform the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) system.
However, traders said
all mobile phone shops across the country will remain closed until a final
decision on the reforms is made.
The decision to
suspend the blockade was announced around 8:45pm yesterday following assurances
from BTRC Chairman Maj Gen (retired) Md Emdad-ul-Bari during a meeting with the
stakeholders.
Senior officials,
including executive heads of posts, telecommunications and information
technology ministry, finance ministry, commerce ministry, National Board of
Revenue, and representatives of the Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association and
the Mobile Business Community Bangladesh, attended the meeting.
The BTRC chairman said
a joint meeting will be held at the commission to resolve all complications
surrounding the NEIR system.
Abu Sayeed Pias,
secretary of the Mobile Business Community, which is leading the protest, said
they were hopeful that the discussions would pave the way for an effective
solution to the NEIR issue and help restore stability in the market.
Earlier in the day,
mobile phone traders staged a sit-in in front of the telecom regulator's
headquarters and blocked roads in Dhaka's Agargaon, demanding a delay in the
rollout of NEIR and lower import taxes on mobile phones.
The protest caused
severe traffic congestion and made access to nearby hospitals, including
Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, the National Institute of
Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, and Shyamoli TB Hospital,
extremely difficult, with some patients waiting on the roadside for hours.
During the sit-in,
they urged the BTRC to delay the rollout of the NEIR system by six months to
one year.
The NEIR system,
scheduled to take effect on December 16, is designed to identify and block
stolen or unauthorised mobile phones using their unique 15-digit International
Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers.
Protesters claimed
that the rollout of the NEIR would negatively affect hundreds of thousands of
traders and their families across the country. They also claimed the policy
would benefit a specific group of businesses, while additional taxes and
restrictions would increase mobile phone prices for consumers.
One of the protesters,
Arafat Hossain, a mobile phone shop owner at Bashundhara City in Dhaka, said,
"We want our demands to be met through a peaceful movement."
He noted that when
import taxes are applied to the base price of a phone, the retail price becomes
very high. "This is causing losses for our business. This movement is not
only for us but also for our customers."
Currently, import
duties on legally imported smartphones stand at about 61 percent.
















