June 12: Regulators and businessmen have agreed to fully comply with the implementation of the 'Mobile Device Management System' (MDMS) enforced by the government on May 15 to stop the sale and distribution of mobile phones illegally imported into Nepal.

The Mobile Phone Imports Association and Nepal Mobile Distributors Association held an interaction and press conference on MDMS implementation in Kathmandu and expressed that this system should be implemented strictly.

Nepal Telecommunications Authority Chairman Purushottam Khanal said that the MDMS system has been implemented to prevent the unauthorized import and use of mobile sets in Nepal. He said that this system will stop the illegal trading and distribution of mobile phones and bring them into the revenue system, and it will also help in reducing criminal activities. Khanal claimed that this system will also be effective in preventing access of third parties to confidential and sensitive personal information in case of lost or stolen mobile phones.

Complaints about leaks in bank details and other personal information are received when mobile phones were lost or stolen.

“With the MDMS system, now stolen phones can be blocked immediately and can be made to stop working in any corner of the world," he said. He added that MDMS has been implemented to control mobiles that are stolen, lost, or brought without paying customs duty.

The Mobile Phone Importers Association President Deepak Malhotra said that mobile phones worth around Rs 15 billion are being sold and distributed illegally, and the government is losing revenue worth Rs 3 to 4 billion annually. He said that some of the phones that come into use are stolen and consumers are paying the price because they cannot distinguish the illegal ones.

"Due to the sale of such mobile phones, there will be problems in criminal investigations and it also badly affects mobile traders," he said. He also claimed that the price of mobile phones will not increase after the implementation of MDMS.

The Chief of District Police Range, Kathmandu, SSP Dan Bahadur Karki, said that analyzing the use of mobile phones and social media in criminal investigations is crucial, so it is necessary to implement this system effectively. He said that it is also the police's job to investigate the mobile phones brought illegally without paying tax.

“Bringing mobile phones without paying customs duty is a crime in itself. People who want to make a profit from such actions cannot get immunity. They come into the legal sphere slowly," said Karki, "The police also investigate crimes that occur through the use of illegal mobile phones."

He also said that consumers should not buy mobile phones without bills and packets. He said that two to three hundred mobile phones are lost every month, and it is difficult to track mobile sets that are not registered with the MDMS system.

Director of the Department of Customs Punya Bikram Khadka said that the implementation of the MDMS system is expected to increase the government’s revenue. Revenue Research Department Director Binod Lamichhane said that MDMS will increase legal business and also consumers will benefit from it.