FBR outlines new registration process for importers of unregistered mobile phones

For commercial importers, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released a mechanism for regularizing unregistered mobile phones with SIM/IMEI functionality.

The FBR has provided an explanation regarding the registration process for commercially imported mobile devices with the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

The FBR has amended its Customs General Orders (CGO) No. 01 of 2019 through CGO 1 of 2024 in this regard.

The FBR states that commercial importers will still be able to use the process outlined by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) for the issue of a Certificate of Clearance (COC) for devices that have previously received type approval.

According to the relevant PTA procedure, in order to obtain a Certificate of Compliance to Technical Standards (CoC) Procedures Commercial CoC for IMEI-based devices that have already been type approved, the applicant must upload all required documents into the PTA DIRBS online portal, which is accessible at dirbs.pta.gov.pk/drs.

Following application submission to DIRBS, the system will cross-check each submitted IMEI to ensure that it is a type-approved model and has not been reported as stolen, copied, or cloned. If it is, the application will be forwarded to FBR WeBOC for additional processing on their end.

The FBR/Customs procedure will then be finished by the applicant logging into their WeBOC account. The DIRBS system will provide a certificate of compliance (CoC) for the submitted application in accordance with the approvals completed by FBR in WeBOC.

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The procedure to sign up for a commercial DIRBS account is given below:-

•  Step 1: Go to the link
• Step 2: Click on the Sign-Up link.
• Step 3: Select Commercial in the drop-down menu.
• Step 4: Enter the required credentials listed for sign-up.
• Step 5: Send an email to commercialnoc@pta.gov.pk for activation of the account. After verification of the entered credentials, the account will be activated.
• Step 6: Log in to your account to apply for CoC.

The applicant will be required to upload all documents as well as the list of only IMEI in CSV format.