KARACHI, March 15: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority has finalized a policy on theft or snatching of cell phones, it is learnt.

The regional PTA directorate has sent the draft policy to the headquarters in Islamabad for approval, sources said on Tuesday, adding that final implementation orders would be issued shortly.

They recalled that some time back the PTA had organized a meeting of representatives of four cellular phone companies with officials of the Sindh police and the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee.

“The cellular phone companies said they did not have the equipment employed to block or jam cell phones. They said the equipment was prohibitively expensive. They, however, agreed that a policy be formulated without delay to check snatching of cell phones,” the sources said.

The regional PTA director, Col Rizwan Hyderi, told Dawn that the cell phone companies had agreed to block (Subscriber Identity Modules) SIMs of stolen mobile phones.

“A cell phone user will have to inform the CPLC at 5682222 or the police department at Madadgar 15 about the theft or snatching of his/her set. He will have to tell the law-enforcement agencies his/her set’s International Manufacturer Equipment Identification (IMEI) number of his/her set. A cell phone set’s IMEI can be determined by dialling *#06#.

The CPLC will pass on the information to the cell phone company concerned. As soon as the stolen set is reactivated, the new user will receive a message from the cell phone company, informing him that his set is stolen and his SIM is being blocked.

He will also be directed to approach the CPLC. If the user changes his SIM to reactivate his stolen set, he will again receive a message from the cell phone company and his new SIM will also be blocked,” Col Hyderi explained.

He said the law-enforcement agencies could ask users of stolen cell phones from where they had purchased their sets. He added that on the basis of information procured from such users action could be taken against those who dealt in stolen cell phones.

Earlier this year the CPLC had launched a databank to check the rising incidence of cell phone theft or snatching.

Col Hyderi said that initially the policy would be applicable only in Karachi. He added that the policy could be extended to other cities of the country if theft or snatching of cell phones increased there.