Earlier this month the ministry of telecommunication brought back the mandatory IMEI registration as an attempt to keep dealers from smuggling mobile phones into the country without paying any customs duty. In principle, buyers are not required to do anything when buying a legal phone from the local market, but they will of course have to pay the due tax when getting a phone from abroad.
Before this new mechanism became effective, the ministry asked people to insert a SIM card in their old devices in order for the cellular networks to recognize them as “legal” devices in the future. I imagine the majority did it, but some people who use dual SIM phone might have missed to insert a card into their second SIM slot (I know I did!) since each slot has a different IMEI number that should be registered with one of the available networks.
My friend who uses a supposedly legal Sony XZ1 recently tried using a second line in his second SIM slot and received the below SMS from MoT.
Funnily enough, when he contacted 111 to ask about the issue they literally answered “el SIM mish mjamrak” instead of explaining to him that he should have inserted a card into that second slot prior to the first of September. The guy also went to LibanPost to inquire about the fees he should pay in order for his phone to work properly and they had absolutely no idea what should be done in his case!
So in brief, in case you have a dual SIM phone and also forgot about that second slot you have in you device, then you should know it will only function for 90 days when you need it.
