Mobile phone shop owners across the country have shut their stores indefinitely. The program began on Sunday (7 December) morning. Most mobile phone shops in Dhaka were seen closed.

They have taken this step to press several demands, including reforms to the National Equipment Identity Registrar (NEIR) scheduled to launch on 16 December, abolishing syndicates, and opening up opportunities for mobile phone imports.

Meanwhile, mobile phone traders have also threatened to lay siege to the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) office in Agargaon, Dhaka, to press their demands.

The Bangladesh Mobile Business Community (MBBC), an association of mobile phone traders, announced the program on Saturday (6 December) night.

Abu Sayeed Piyas, General Secretary of the Bangladesh Mobile Business Community, said that traders across the country have kept their shops closed from Sunday morning to demand their rights. Traders are now gathering in front of the BTRC office, where they will hold a sit-in program.

Mobile phone traders claim that if NEIR is implemented, hundreds of thousands of traders and their families will be affected. The new system will benefit only a special group, while additional taxes will increase mobile phone prices for consumers.

Traders say that NEIR should be launched only after discussions with those who hold over 70% of the mobile phone market share. They are not against NEIR itself, but they want certain reforms in the process, a fair tax policy, an end to monopoly syndicates, and equal opportunities to ensure fair and open trade. They want to present their concerns to the government, but the authorities are moving forward with a unilateral decision without listening to the vast majority of traders.

Trader leaders claim that the sudden announcement of NEIR implementation without prior consultation has caused severe market instability. As a result, nearly 25,000 businesses and more than 2 million people involved in the sector are facing threats to their livelihoods. They legally conduct business and have taken hundreds of crores of taka in bank loans. They currently have inventory worth crores of taka in unsold handsets. It is impossible to sell such a large stock by 16 December. If their demands are ignored and monopoly advantages are given to a handful of traders, many will be forced out of business.

MBBC leaders also said that if the current structure of NEIR is implemented without changes, mobile phone imports will become impossible through legal channels whether the duty is 57% or 0%. According to BTRC import regulations, if a foreign brand assembles its products locally, no other company is allowed to import any model of that brand.

They claim this policy effectively creates a monopoly, which will eliminate competition in the market and hand over control of the mobile phone industry—serving 180 million people—to a few companies. Consequently, smartphone prices will rise sharply, heavily impacting ordinary consumers.