Minister Of Industry Admits That IMEI's Governance Of Registration Still Needs To Be Improved

Illustration (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Minister of Industry (Menperin) Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said that his party has long been committed to dismantling illegal access practices to the Centralized Equipment Identity Register (CEIR). CEIR is a database that stores the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number from mobile phones circulating in Indonesia.

"On the way, IMEI registration governance needs to be perfected," he said in a written statement quoted on Sunday, July 30.

The Minister of Industry explained that one example of irregularities that occurred was the illegal attempt to register IMEI. He admitted that he had assigned the Director General of Metal, Machinery, Transportation Equipment and Electronics (Dirjen ILMATE) of the Ministry of Industry to dismantle these illegal practices.

Regarding the CEIR illegal access crime case, the Minister of Industry welcomed the steps taken by the Police to enforce the applicable regulations.

"We have known and since about a year ago have ordered to dismantle these practices. So that at this time we are happy because we have given directions related to it," he said.

The Minister of Industry also asked the Police to conduct a thorough and fair investigation into this matter, as well as to related parties who have access to CEIR. Apart from the Ministry of Industry, parties who can access CEIR are the Ministry of Communication and Information, the Directorate General of Customs and Excise at the Ministry of Finance, as well as cellphone operators.

For information, in the IMEI control program with CEIR, based on the Regulation of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology Number 1 of 2020, the Ministry of Industry is tasked with registering IMEI from cellphone, computer and tablet manufacturers (HKT) and registered importers HKT.

To carry out this task well, the Ministry of Industry has also issued Decree of the Minister of Industry Number 1870 of 2023 concerning the National IMEI Supervision and Control Task Force.

"This task force consists of representatives of many agencies in charge of controlling and controlling telecommunications equipment/devices connected to cellular mobile networks through IMEI identification in accordance with their respective authorities," he concluded.