Indonesia Will Start to Block Illegal Phone in April 2020

Phones with unregistered IMEI will stop working in Indonesia as of 18 April 2020. Tourists will not be affected as long as they don't use Indonesian's SIM cards.
Indonesia's Ministry of Trade conducted socialization on the implementation of International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) regulations at ITC Roxy Jakarta on Teusday, 26 November 2019.

IMEI is regulated through the new Minister of Trade Regulation No. 79 of 2019 concerning Obligations to Include Labels in Indonesian Language and the Minister of Trade Regulation No. 78 of 2019 concerning Provisions for the Instructions for Use and Guarantee of After Sales Services for Electronic and Telematics Products.

These regulations were signed on 18th October 2019 after two months of delay. They will come into effect six months after the signing, which fall on 18th April 2020.

The policy is enacted in order to protect phone consumers from products that do not comply with the standard. In addition, the enactment of this rule is expected to prevent and reduce illegal phone sales in Indonesia.

Phones with unregistered IMEI will stop working in Indonesia as of 18 April 2020. Illustration.

After 18th April 2020, all black market phones with unregistered IMEI will not be able to function as communication device. However, Illegal phones which are purchased before the date will still work normally. According to CNN Indonesia on 18th October 2019, The government will give a grace period of two years. If it has passed the grace period, the black market cellphone connection will be limited.

The IMEI regulations do not apply to tourists who visit Indonesia. You will still get cellular service in the country while using roaming packages as long as you are using you own country SIM.

For foreigners who use foreign phones and Indonesian's SIM cards, the ministry will provide a mechanism which will allow you to register and validate the IMEI.

Phone providers are required to guarantee that the IMEI numbers have been registered and validated in accordance with the regulations. The IMEI number must be listed on the device and mobile phone packaging.

The enforcement of these IMEI regulations extend to all SIM-based telecommunications devices. They include phones, tablet computers, and handheld computers.

You can visit https://imei.kemenperin.go.id in order to check whether you IMEI has been registered or not. To check your device IMEI number, you can dial *#06#.

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