*ISLAMABAD – The Federal government has given yet another deadline for theunregistered mobile phones in Pakistan.*

*The government has extended the deadline for registering your mobilephones till January 15 and softened its earlier policy of blocking theunregistered handsets, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry told a pressconference in Islamabad on Thursday.*

In October, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had said it wouldblock all mobile phones whose International Mobile Equipment Identity(IMEI) number is not registered with it till October 20. The deadline wasextended till December 31 after public backlash and panic.

The government has now extended the deadline till January 15 and also madea change in its policy, the minister said. Those with non-duty paid,unregistered mobile phones can now get their devices registered even afterJanuary 15, but they will pay a fine, which will be equal to 10% of customsduty.

The government has formed this policy to curb smuggling of mobile phonesthat evade taxes by using one IMEI number for multiple (read hundreds ofthousands) mobile phones.