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DHAKA, Dec 3, 2025 (BSS) - The government will restrict the import of cloned 
mobile phones, stolen or hijacked phones and refurbished phones in 
Bangladesh.

The decision was taken at a meeting held between the National Board of 
Revenue (NBR), the Ministry of Commerce, the Posts and Telecommunications 
Division and the BTRC on December 1 at the office of Chief Adviser's Special 
Assistant on the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information 
Technology Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb.

The meeting also took some other decisions regarding reducing the duty on 
mobile phone imports, a press release said.

Measures are being taken to validate the stock phones illegally imported to 
the market before December 16 next with a reduced duty by submitting the IMEI 
list of these phones to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory 
Commission (BTRC). 

But, this scope will not be provided in the case of cloned phones and 
refurbished phones. The mobile phones activated before December 16 will not be blocked in any way. All are requested to avoid rumours to this end.

Bangladeshi expatriates can use smartphones without registration for up to 60 
days while spending their holidays in the country. Mobile phones will have to 
be registered if they are staying for more than 60 days. 

The expatriates, who have BMET registration cards, can bring a total of three 
phones with them for free. To this end, they can bring two new phones without 
duty in addition to their used handsets. Tax will have to be paid in case of 
bringing the fourth phone. 

Those who do not have a BMET card can bring an extra phone for free in 
addition to their used one. In this case, they must keep the legal document 
of mobile phone purchase with them. In Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore or 
various airports in the Middle East countries, smugglers are involved in 
smuggling gold, expensive mobile phones duty-free by forcing general 
expatriates to do so, according to the press release.

To prevent the attempts of smugglers, the expatriates must keep the documents 
of the purchased mobile phones with them. The legal import duty on 
smartphones will be reduced significantly, which will cut the price of 
legally imported mobile phones.

Currently, the duty on mobile phone imports through legal channels is about 
61 percent. The government has started working to reduce it significantly. If 
the import duty is cut, the duty and VAT on mobile phones produced in 13-14 
factories in Bangladesh will have to be reduced; otherwise the foreign 
investment of the companies will be severely affected.

The BTRC and NBR have jointly held meetings with the Ministry of Commerce 
several times to reduce and adjust the duty on imports and domestic 
production and have started working quickly to this end.

In addition, one should be careful whether someone is using a SIM registered 
in one's name without one's knowledge. To avoid crime and registration 
problems, one should always use a SIM registered in one's name.

From December 16 next, the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) is 
going to be launched, so one should refrain from purchasing handsets without 
valid IMEI numbers and illegally imported, smuggled and cloned phones will be 
stopped in Bangladesh, the release said.

Dumping of old phones from abroad will be stopped in the country. The rampant 
smuggling business that has been started by changing the casing and bringing 
these electronic wastes into the country will be stopped.

Flights from India, Thailand and China are being identified at airports and 
land ports and raids will be conducted by customs soon, it added.

The proposed Telecommunications (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 has ensured data 
security related to eKYC and IMEI registration of mobile SIMs. A new section 
has been added to the ordinance for making violation of registration data an 
offense.