Government of India has banned import of all mobile handsets with fake or duplicate unique identity numbers. This will help security agencies to track callers using different SIM cards.

"GSM mobile handsets with duplicate IMEI or fake IMEI & 'CDMA mobile handsets' with duplicate ESN (Electronic Serial Number)/MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) or fake ESN/MEID are added to the list of 'Prohibited' items for import," Director General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is a unique 15-17 digit code that comes with every GSM mobile phones to identify the handset on a cellphone network. This in turn help government agencies monitor activities that are dangerous for national security. Once a mobile is identified by the security agencies IMEI helps them to monitor even if the person use another SIM.

The Indian Government has already banned import of fake mobile phone without or wit '00..00' IMEI numbers and the new order will place a ban on the duplicate handsets. The Government says banning handsets with fake and duplicate IMEI numbers, will check proliferation and help in improving national security.