Mobile phone shop owners staged a human chain in Dhaka and several divisional cities across the country on Sunday, demanding dialogue with the government and reforms to policy provisions before the rollout of the National Equipment Identity Register.
Under the banner of the Mobile Business Community Bangladesh, they staged the human chain in the Karwan Bazar–Panthapath area for over three hours, hampering normal traffic.
As part of the broader movement, mobile phone shops across the country remained closed on Sunday, and similar human chains were held in cities.
In the Karwan Bazar area, traders gathered at about 10:00am and stayed until around 02:00pm, causing traffic congestion on various roads of the capital and leading to noticeable numbers of city dwellers walking to reach their destinations.
‘Mobile shops across the country remained closed, and traders staged human chains in the capital, divisional cities, and even some districts and upazilas,’ Mizanur Rahman Sohel, spokesperson of the mobile business community, told New Age.
Regarding traffic congestion, he said that almost 200 volunteers worked to keep traffic normal during the human chain, however, as more people gathered, traffic congestion occurred.
Speakers at the Dhaka programme said that mobile phone’s identity register should be introduced only after consultations with market participants who collectively account for more than 70 per cent of the country’s phone market share.
The traders clarified that they are not opposed to the identity register in principle, but seek rational reforms to the process, a fair taxation framework, the dismantling of monopolistic syndicates, and equal opportunities for all businesses to safeguard free and competitive trade.
They also said that the authorities are moving to enforce it unilaterally without hearing the concerns of the vast majority of retailers.
Mobile phone traders said that the sudden announcement, without prior consultation, has created severe market instability, making nearly 25,000 businesses and more than two million people dependent on the mobile phone trade face uncertainty.
They also said that the retailers have taken large bank loans worth hundreds of crores of taka and currently hold unsold handset inventory worth crores.
They argued that it would be impossible to clear the stock by December 16, warning that granting exclusive advantages to a handful of businesses would cripple the rest of the market.
The leaders cautioned that if the government does not engage in dialogue before its implementation, mobile phone retailers nationwide will converge on Dhaka to launch tougher protests.
According to New Age’s Sylhet correspondent, the city’s mobile traders also formed a human chain.
Traders of Karim Ullah Market, the largest business hub of mobile phones and accessories in Sylhet city’s Bandar Bazar, formed a human chain at noon, with the market association president Wadud Pavel in the chair.
Bangladesh’s mobile handset industry is poised for a significant transformation as the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission prepares to introduce the NEIR on December 16, 2025.
The system would block the use of illegally imported or unregistered phones, ensuring market discipline, protecting investments, and strengthening consumer rights and security.
