Mobile phone manufacturing sector in Pakistan is under serious threat from stolen and smuggled handsets openly circulating in local markets across the country.
The Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association has formally written to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, urging it to act against growing IMEI cloning practices.
Criminals are copying IMEI numbers from legally imported phones and assigning those codes to counterfeit, stolen, or illegally imported devices found in Pakistani markets.
These fraudulent devices are then presented to buyers as fully duty-paid and legitimate products, while some of them are actually stolen phones from other countries.
Scale of the problem
Unauthorised phone imports are entering the local market without going through proper regulatory procedures or paying the applicable duties required by law.
The PMPMA represents 33 manufacturers of both domestic and international mobile phone brands currently operating and producing handsets across the country.
The association has called on the PTA to deploy a technologically advanced IMEI tracking and verification system to permanently stop the cloning of device identifiers.
By March 2026, approximately 31.79 million mobile devices had been sold in Pakistan, with over 30.86 million of those units assembled locally within the country.
Industry and investor concern
The association warned that widespread IMEI fraud is damaging investor confidence and actively discouraging further financial investment in the mobile manufacturing ecosystem.
In a separate letter to the Ministry of Industries and Production, PMPMA highlighted that the sector has directly created over 40,000 formal employment opportunities for Pakistani workers.
The association also raised strong concern over reports suggesting that commercial imports of used and refurbished mobile phones might be permitted by the government.
Allowing used phone imports would harm the local assembly industry, reduce investment, lower documented tax revenues, and create enforcement, consumer, and security risks.
Tax and economic impact
The local mobile assembly industry operates within the documented economy and pays sales tax, income tax, withholding tax, payroll taxes, and utility bills regularly.
In contrast, the trade in used phones has historically remained poorly documented and does not contribute proportionately to Pakistan’s national tax revenue base.
The PMPMA stressed that sustainable formal industrial activity must be protected against second-hand phone imports that weaken the country’s documented and tax-paying economy.
The association concluded that permitting commercial imports of used phones at this stage of Pakistan’s development would seriously undermine the formal mobile manufacturing sector.
