Kyrgyzstanis who already use mobile phones will not pay 700 soms to register an IMEI code. The Executive Director of the Association of Information Security and Development of IT Structure Aibek Bakanov told at a press conference.
According to him, the importer will have to pay this amount for each phone when importing a mobile device into the Kyrgyz Republic — this is a tax and customs duties. The final cost of the device will not increase for a common buyer.
«Only the IMEI code will appear in the general database, there will be no link to the personal data of citizens. For example, those citizens who already have devices will not even notice the registration, it will be done automatically,» Aibek Bakanov told.
According to the Customs, 1,800 million mobile phones have been brought to Kyrgyzstan in 2020. However, according to the service for regulation and supervision over the communications industry under the Ministry of Digital Development, 3,900 million devices have been imported into the country during this period.
«The difference in official figures is enormous. If we sum up all the damage to the republican budget, we get about 1 billion soms. The state really needs this money, it could be used to pay pensions and salaries. But, unfortunately, they end up in the pockets of unscrupulous importers. There is corruption in government agencies, the scale is large,» the specialist stressed.
Aibek Bakanov also believes that many crimes in the republic can be avoided thanks to the registration of IMEI codes. According to him, law enforcement agencies are not coping with investigations into phone thefts.
«The mobile devices market is not transparent, illegally imported cell phones dominate there. It is unprofitable for official representatives to enter our market. They can’t compete on price. We do not have service centers. Our citizens simply cannot go to the official representative and replace the screen on the phone. This is a big problem,» Aibek Bakanov added.
Specialists from the Ministry of Digital Development submitted a draft resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers on issues of identification of mobile communication devices, as well as devices used for data transmission for public discussion on December 10, 2021.
