Phone Lost or Stolen in India? Block It and File a Complaint

Report the loss to the police and keep a copy, get a duplicate SIM for your number, then submit the block request on the Sanchar Saathi (CEIR) portal with the police report and an identity proof. The portal says a reported handset is blocked within 24 hours and then cannot be used on any network across India.

This guide follows the order the government portal gives, and explains the police step using the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS).

The steps, in order

1. Note your IMEI. The CEIR page says the IMEI “is written on the mobile packaging box” and can be found on the mobile bill or invoice. It also says “Dual SIM phones will have two IMEI numbers.”
2. Report to the police and keep a copy. The portal's first instruction is “File a report with the police, and keep a copy of the report.” The next section covers how.
3. Get a duplicate SIM. The portal says to “Get a duplicate SIM Card for the lost number from your telecom service provider”, naming Airtel, Jio, Voda/Idea, BSNL and MTNL as examples. It calls this essential, because the OTP for the block request is sent to that number.
4. Mind the 24 hour note. The portal adds that, under TRAI's regulation, “SMS facility on re-issued SIMs is enabled after 24 hours of SIM activation.” Since the OTP is sent to that number, my reading is that you may have to wait before the form can be completed.
5. Gather documents. The portal says “a copy of police report and an Identity Proof must be provided. You can also provide the mobile purchase invoice.”
6. Submit the block request. Use the request form for blocking the IMEI of a lost or stolen phone on the portal, or the Sanchar Saathi mobile app. You are given a Request ID, which the portal says can be used to check the status of the request and to unblock the IMEI later. Save it.
7. Wait for the block. A reported handset “will be blocked for usage in Indian telecom network within 24 hours.” The CEIR page adds that once blocked, it cannot be used on any network across India.

The portal names two routes: the form on its website, or through State Police. If, after you submit, the portal shows a message that a request already exists for your IMEI and mobile number by State police, it says that means the request already exists in the system through State police.

Filing the police report: what section 173 says

Section 173(1) BNSS covers information about a cognizable offence. It says such information, “irrespective of the area where the offence is committed”, may be given orally or by electronic communication to an officer in charge of a police station. The words zero FIR do not appear in the section, but this is the rule that label is usually used for.

• If you give it orally, it shall be “reduced to writing by him or under his direction, and be read over to the informant”, and signed by you.
• If you give it electronically, it shall be “taken on record by him on being signed within three days by the person giving it”.
• Your copy. Section 173(2): “A copy of the information as recorded under sub-section (1) shall be given forthwith, free of cost, to the informant or the victim.” That copy is what the portal asks you to keep and upload.
• If the station refuses. Under section 173(4), a person aggrieved by a refusal to record may “send the substance of such information, in writing and by post, to the Superintendent of Police concerned”. Our guide Can police refuse to register your FIR? What to do covers this.

Stolen versus lost

BNS section 303(1) describes theft as a person “intending to take dishonestly any movable property out of the possession of any person” without consent, moving it to do so. The First Schedule to the BNSS lists theft under section 303(2) as cognizable, and snatching under section 304(2) as cognizable. It also has a separate line for theft where the value of the property is less than 5,000 rupees, listed as non-cognizable. For non-cognizable offences, section 174 provides for the informant to be referred to the Magistrate.

The portal covers phones that are “lost/stolen” and says only to file a report with the police. The texts used here do not describe what a report of a merely lost phone looks like, so ask the station to record what happened and give you a written copy, which is what the portal needs.

What blocking does, and does not do

• The CEIR page says it shares blacklisted devices across operators, so a blacklisted device will not work on other networks “even if the SIM card in the device is changed”.
• Blocking “does not prevent the police from tracking the lost/stolen phone.” The portal says that if someone tries to use a blocked phone, traceability is generated; you are informed by SMS and the report goes to the police station concerned.
• It does not deal with money lost through the phone. The portal says someone who has lost money to financial fraud is “suggested to report at cyber-crime helpline number 1930” or on cybercrime.gov.in. See Lost Money to a UPI Scam? Freeze Your Account and File a Complaint in the First Hour for the first-hour steps with your bank.

If the phone is found

Unblock only if the phone has been found and is in your possession. The portal says you must first report to local police “that it is found”, then submit the unblocking form. If the blocking request went through State Police, you must approach State police for the unblocking request.

Also check connections in your name

Sanchar Saathi lets a subscriber “check the number of mobile connections taken in his/her name” and report connections “either not required or not taken by the subscriber”. If someone uses your number or accounts to harass you, see Being Cyberstalked or Harassed Online? Your Legal Options

What to keep

• The police report copy, and the date and station that gave it.
• The Request ID and the number on which you registered it.
• The phone bill or invoice showing the IMEI, and the identity proof you uploaded.
• The duplicate SIM receipt from your provider, and any traceability SMS.

Sources

• Sanchar Saathi portal and FAQ, Department of Telecommunications.
• Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR), Department of Telecommunications.
• Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, Gazette of India, 25 December 2023: sections 173 and 174 and the First Schedule.
• Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Gazette of India, 25 December 2023: sections 303 and 304.

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