About 30,000 Chinese mobile handsets across Chhattisgarh today stopped ringing as the service providers blocked the phones that did not had valid unique identification code.

As per the government directives, handsets with false International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) number have been blocked from mid-night due to security reasons. IMEI number is a unique 15-digit code that identifies a particular mobile.

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As the deadlines to get the IMEI ended yesterday, people thronged different centres till late in the evening to reinstall the genuine number in their handsets.

Those who failed were unfortunate as their handsets became inactive from the mid-night. Following the government directives, the service providers in Chhattisgarh had cut off the services on the handsets that did not had an authenticated IMEI number.

A senior executive with one of the service providers said that the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) of the subscriber had not been blocked and they could avail the service by putting the (SIM) card on the handset with valid IMEI. The officials of different service providers here refused to divulge the exact figure as to how many handsets had been blocked citing that only the corporate office would reveal the details. However, sources said the number would be about 30,000 across the state.

The development had come as a boon for small mobile traders as the demand for low-priced branded set had suddenly soared in the market. Those who have failed to get the valid code are now approaching the shops to purchase cheap handsets of branded companies that had suddenly increased the demand, the traders said.

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