What's in my IMEI for you: operators want to receive a fee for registering gadgets
Telecom operators want to collect a fee for adding mobile devices to the IMEI database. They have applied to the Ministry of Finance with this initiative. It is assumed that devices that are not registered in the system will not be able to work in Russia. According to market participants, this will reduce the volume of "gray" imports and at the same time provide additional financial support to the industry. Experts note that in fact, the costs will be shifted to end users or sellers who will include the payment in the cost of the devices. This practice is already used in a number of CIS countries, where registration of one device costs customers about 500-700 rubles. Izvestia understood what support measures the industry needed.
Who will pay for smartphone registration in the IMEI database
The largest Russian operators have proposed to the Ministry of Finance to create a trust fund for the development of communication networks and import substitution of critical infrastructure. They recommended filling it, in particular, with income from registering mobile devices in the database of unique identification numbers (IMEI). This follows from the proposals they sent to the Ministry as part of the preparation of a new edition of the Industry Development Strategy until 2035. The authenticity of the document was confirmed by a source familiar with officials of several relevant departments.
IMEI is a unique 15—digit code that manufacturers assign to all gadgets. With its help, operators determine which device is on their network and can track its location. Bank security services also use such codes. They use them to determine that, for example, a customer is logging into a mobile application, and not a fraudster who swapped a SIM card. IMEI databases exist in Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and other countries — signalmen do not service devices that are not included in them.
"The industry is facing urgent issues regarding the transition to domestic solutions, and these are high costs. Due to the high creditworthiness of operators and the high key interest rate, it is impossible to implement such projects on debt. The lack of additional sources of income forces companies to reduce investment programs," the communications specialists explained the relevance of such a measure.
The IMEI database will allow killing two birds with one stone: not only to increase the incomes of operators, but also to reduce the "gray" import of smartphones into the Russian Federation, which causes law-abiding retailers to lose revenue, the document says. The unified registry will allow you to block devices imported without paying customs duties and taxes. The whitewashing of imports will bring about 30 billion rubles in tax payments to the budget, the authors of the initiative estimated.
— Recall that such a measure as the creation of an IMEI database is being discussed as part of the second package of amendments to combat cyberbullying. The bill has so far passed only the first reading, so it's premature to talk about the details, the Ministry of Finance told Izvestia.
The fact that the issue of creating an IMEI database is under study became known at the end of 2025, while the key issue — who will be responsible for payment — users, sellers or other parties — has not yet been resolved.
There are few options — in fact, it can be the owner of the device, its importer (as is done, for example, in Kazakhstan) or the seller, said Karen Ghazaryan, director of the Internet Research Institute. At the same time, according to him, regardless of the chosen model, the costs will eventually be "sewn" into the cost of the smartphone. The measure is debatable, as it may entail additional costs for gadget buyers, he added.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the largest Russian telecom operators.
What measures will help support the industry
Russia is not alone in trying to create a national database of IMEI numbers, said Leonid Konik, a partner at ComNews Research.
For example, in Uzbekistan, from August 2025, either the consumer, if he independently imports the phone for himself, or importers add the smartphone's IMEI to a single list. The cost is 82,400 soums (about 515 rubles). Kazakhstan introduced a similar requirement on March 25, while the service was free for the first two months, and from May 25, one monthly calculation index (MCI) is charged for each smartphone. Last year, it amounted to 3932 tenge (about 630 rubles), and in 2026 — 4325 tenge (about 700 rubles).
According to Leonid Konik, the economic nature of the fee for entering the IMEI number into the database is unclear.
— For the operator, this is just filling in another field in the user's data and does not incur additional costs. Judging by the statements of the officials (no one has seen any documents on this subject yet), this fee is supposed to be charged by importers. However, it is obvious that they will include it in the cost of the devices. As a result, the costs will be borne by the end user. Then it turns out that this is either a luxury tax (although the smartphone has long ceased to be such), or an excise tax," he noted.
Experts and market participants believe that the industry needs more appropriate support measures that will not require end-user costs. The relevant proposals were sent by the operators themselves as part of the discussion of the new edition of the industry development strategy. Among them is the relaxation of state regulation of communication tariffs and preferential financing. In particular, starting in 2027, companies would like to gain access to VEB's project finance factory.The Russian Federation is a mechanism for providing syndicated loans with state support, where the corporation acts as a credit manager and selects borrowers.
According to Alkhas Mirzabekov, CEO of the ESK operator, preferential financial instruments are needed for investments in providing communications to socially significant facilities, customs privileges for the import of telecommunications equipment, stimulating investments in promising developments and technologies, as well as the formation of a fairer pricing system in the market.
— Telecom companies need affordable borrowed funds to modernize their networks in order to provide subscribers with modern and high-quality services, realistically at borrowing rates of 7-8%. Now these rates reach 20%, and for equipment leasing — 30%," he said.
At the same time, the tariffs of operators are now being intensively controlled, signalmen actually cannot raise them to a level above inflation, Alkhas Mirzabekov added. It is advisable to weaken this control, and more flexible regulatory mechanisms are needed, he believes.
The situation is complicated by the need for significant investments in replacing Western equipment, as well as maintaining infrastructure against the backdrop of growing Internet traffic, added Timofey Voronin, project manager at Intelligent Analytics, TechNet NTI market expert. In conditions of a sufficiently high key interest rate, according to his assessment, it becomes economically unprofitable to attract loans for the implementation of large projects with a long payback period.
To solve the problems, operators themselves propose a number of measures, many of which are being discussed in the Ministry of Finance, said Oleg Yablokov, NTI expert on wireless communications. The industry is now heavily leveraged and has significant debt by the end of 2025. In his opinion, companies need access to more affordable borrowed funds.
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