Regulation on phones brought from abroad: Dual IMEI practice is ending! Phones for which the fee is not paid will be shut off on that date
In investigations conducted by the BTK, it was determined that mobile phones brought from abroad were being registered using IMEI numbers belonging to different individuals. It was announced that for devices identified as unregistered, network access will be cut off if the registration fee is not paid by May 1, 2026.
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Transactions made via "dual IMEI" on mobile phones brought to Turkey from abroad have recently come to the fore. It was determined that in dual SIM card devices, the IMEI registration of one SIM was matched with a different device, while the second SIM was left unregistered.
According to the report by Sabah, investigations carried out by the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) since the beginning of the year revealed that hundreds of thousands of devices were registered in the system using IMEI numbers belonging to different people. The authority, which considers these devices "irregular," sent warnings to users via SMS to inform them.
DEADLINE IS MAY 1: NETWORK ACCESS MAY BE CUT OFF
According to the notification from the BTK, in order for the relevant devices to continue being used, the registration fee of 54,258 TL must be paid by May 1, 2026. It was stated that if no action is taken by this date, network access for both physical dual SIM and e-SIM supported devices will be cut off.
The steps that users need to follow are listed as follows:
- First, the device's IMEI number will be learned by dialing *#06#.
- Then, the registration status of the number will be checked via the "IMEI Inquiry" service on e-Devlet.
- If the device appears as "unregistered," the registration fee must be paid within the specified period.