Planning to buy phone during Amazon or Flipkart sale? Follow these steps to verify if it is original

With Amazon and Flipkart announcing their biggest sales of the year starting September 23, buyers are eagerly waiting to grab popular smartphones at massive discounts. However, while the festive deals promise big savings, there have also been reports of fake, used, or even non-functional smartphones being delivered during previous sales. 

In the past, several users have reported receiving counterfeit devices or phones that stopped working shortly after unboxing. To curb such frauds, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) offers simple and easy steps to verify the smartphone’s authenticity through the Sanchar Saathi portal.

Here’s how you can do it. 

How to verify if your smartphone is original or fake?

Every mobile device comes with a unique 15-digit IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. You can check whether the phone is genuine by verifying this number via the Sanchar Saathi portal. Here are simple and easy steps. 

1. Go to the official portal of Sanchar Saathi – https://sancharsaathi.gov.in
2. On the homepage, click on Citizen Centric Services
3. Next, select “Know Your Mobile (KYM)/IMEI Verification”
4. Enter the captcha and your mobile number to get the OTP
5. Now submit the OTP to proceed
6. Enter your smartphone’s 15-digit IMEI number and hit Submit

Once done, details of the device, such as the device status, brand, model, manufacturer, and device type, will be displayed.

Also read: Samsung Galaxy S24 5G price drops by over Rs 22,000 on Amazon

Alternatively, users can also download the Sanchar Saathi mobile App from Google Play Store and Apple App Store and know the authenticity of the device. Additionally, they can even send SMS “KYM< 15-digit IMEI number>” to 14422 and get the details.

Also read: HMD Vibe 5G debuts in India alongside 101 4G and 102 4G feature phones: Check price and specs

To know the IMEI number of the device, users can dial *#06# on their smartphone.