Necessary legal action will be taken to prevent illegal phone imports and the organised smuggling of unregistered phones to the country, which affects the security and health of the country while also impacting tax revenue, asserted State Minister of Finance Ranjith Siyambalapitiya.

“We had a discussion regarding this on Tuesday (31 January) with the legal importers of mobile phones in the country. The reduction in Government revenue due to this issue was noted as well as the security threat this poses as a result of the absence of an International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number in these imported devices. It was also brought to attention how due to the low quality of these products that are smuggled in, the health of the consumers could be adversely affected,” said Siyambalapitiya while speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (1).

He emphasised three crucial facts pertaining to the illegal smuggling of mobile phones into the country. They are; the security threat due to these phones not being registered with the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) using the IMEI numbers as done with legally imported phones, the loss of tax revenue to the country through this in the form of foreign exchange which is an extremely crucial income at present, and the health hazards that this illegal smuggling could cause, given the absence of quality control of the products that are illegally imported. With the prevalence of the usage of mobile phones by people of all walks of life, including small children, he stated that it is exceedingly important to take necessary measures to prevent the entry of these phones to the country and the market.

He stated that the legal provisions needed to prevent this are already in place and that attention needs to be paid therefore to the enforcement of these provisions. He further added that they are ready to make new amendments to be implemented as needed in order to regulate the system efficiently.                                                           

Siyambalapitiya noted that the relevant authorities including the Customs, the TRCSL, and the Ministry of Defence have been instructed to present a report by 6 February on the measures that can be taken to prevent the illegal import of mobile phones. Instructions have been given following the discussion with the Mobile Phone Importers’ Association on the matter on Tuesday.