Using Non-PTA Approved phones?

[XPremiuM]

So, these days the market is full of Non-PTA approved phones. They're being bought and sold normally, which leads me to believe that the PTA crap is overhyped.

Some of the people who are using these phones have told me they receive automated calls & messages to inform them about the status of their phones, but the phones continue to work fine nonetheless.

So my question is simple. Are you using a non-approved phone? If so, how's your experience. Also, would you advise to buy non-approved phones from the market?

 

[murtaza12]

So, these days the market is full of Non-PTA approved phones. They're being bought and sold normally, which leads me to believe that the PTA crap is overhyped.

Some of the people who are using these phones have told me they receive automated calls & messages to inform them about the status of their phones, but the phones continue to work fine nonetheless.

So my question is simple. Are you using a non-approved phone? If so, how's your experience. Also, would you advise to buy non-approved phones from the market?

Non approved phones can only work for 60 days (or 90 days, can't remember), but they will be blocked eventually.

So obviously they will work fine now, but they will get blocked after a set number of days since first activation and then you'll have to pay to get it approved.

PTA thing is not over hyped, it is very real.

 

[XPremiuM]

Non approved phones can only work for 60 days (or 90 days, can't remember), but they will be blocked eventually.

So obviously they will work fine now, but they will get blocked after a set number of days since first activation and then you'll have to pay to get it approved.

PTA thing is not over hyped, it is very real.

AFAIK, DIBRS was implemented in January 2019. So it's been 3-4 months since it's implementation.

But has anyone's IMEI actually got blocked? Do you know someone personally whose SIM stopped receiving signals?

I for one don't know a single person whose SIM stopped receiving signals (that's what an IMEI block does), so i think this 60-90 day stuff is just scare tactics to initiate fear among users, making them pay for IMEI approval or get a new PTA approved phone.

 

[murtaza12]

AFAIK, DIBRS was implemented in January 2019. So it's been 3-4 months since it's implementation.

But has anyone's IMEI actually got blocked? Do you know someone personally whose SIM stopped receiving signals?

I for one don't know a single person whose SIM stopped receiving signals (that's what an IMEI block does), so i think this 60-90 day stuff is just scare tactics to initiate fear among users, making them pay for IMEI approval or get a new PTA approved phone.

I don't personally know anyone. The two people I did know that had PTA approved phones got them as gifts from abroad, and didn't realize the 'one free phone' rule only applied to travelers, so they sent the gifts back.

As for whether or not it's a tactic, I wouldn't want to take the risk, especially not with an expensive phone since the duties are insanely high. Not worth it just to save a few thousand imo.

If DIRBS was crap, then shopkeepers wouldn't have protested about the duties and implementation of the whole system in the first place.

 

[XPremiuM]

I don't personally know anyone. The two people I did know that had PTA approved phones got them as gifts from abroad, and didn't realize the 'one free phone' rule only applied to travelers, so they sent the gifts back.

As for whether or not it's a tactic, I wouldn't want to take the risk, especially not with an expensive phone since the duties are insanely high. Not worth it just to save a few thousand imo.

If DIRBS was crap, then shopkeepers wouldn't have protested about the duties and implementation of the whole system in the first place.

I absolutely agree about not buying expensive phones, but if you're used to buying affordable 2nd-hand overseas shipped "kit" phones, then i personally think it's worth the risk to continue buying them.

Even if the unfortunate thing happens & your IMEI gets blocked (which i still don't think it will), you'll basically end up with a SIM-less phone. All other features of the phone will continue to work, so it's not like the phone will become a rock. You can even make/recieve calls via Wifi through apps.

 

[mbk99]

Still why would you take such a Risk! You should insist the shopkeepers to provide you with PTA Approved kit Smartphone and check the IMEI at the time of purchase.

Or get it approved using a valid passport friend or family international traveler incoming to Pak within 60 of arrival.

Now even the expensive flagship phones like Samsung Galaxy S10, S10 Plus, Note 9 are provided PTA Approved without warranty, as the seller clearly states it in description in online Websites like Telemart, Homeshopping, Ishopping etc but still you should always check their IMEI prior to purchase.

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[syedfarazahmed]

Or get it approved using a valid passport friend or family international traveler incoming to Pak within 60 of arrival.

how to do that bro ? some of my friends recently came back from umrah and i have a non pta approved phone so how can i get it approved on their password

 

[mbk99]

how to do that bro ? some of my friends recently came back from umrah and i have a non pta approved phone so how can i get it approved on their password

Get their Valid Passport no, CNIC no, contact no, Name, Email etc all the basic details. & Head over to PTA DIRBS website and Sign up/create a new account with all the aforementioned details.

And file for COC (Certificate of Compliance) via your newly created profile. Selecting the international traveler option. Instead of Courier or local option.

As the international traveler is allowed to register one phone free of cost within 60 days of arrival in Pakistan via baggage rules.

So filing for COC should be straight forward task, if you submit correctly then almost immediately you'll get your phone Complaint with PTA & Even if you make a mistake then contact/email PTA at: [email protected]

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[XPremiuM]

Considering the fact that you can get your non-approved phone approved by the above method, it makes perfect sense why people are still buying these non-approved phones.

Just buy a non-approved phone from the market for cheap, then get it approved by the above method. All you need is a friend or relative who came back from abroad in the last 2 months. Umrah/Hajj visitors will be your best option in this case.

 

[Hypnotic]

I am using non registered note 8. Got messages from pta that it will be blocked after 60 days and it is still working after 60 days. I informed the shopkeeper about the messages and he said don't worry it will not be blocked. He said many people who got their phones registered also getting these messages. He is taking full responsibility if it gets blocked.

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[mbk99]

I am using non registered note 8. Got messages from pta that it will be blocked after 60 days and it is still working after 60 days. I informed the shopkeeper about the messages and he said don't worry it will not be blocked. He said many people who got their phones registered also getting these messages. He is taking full responsibility if it gets blocked.

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I completely agree with later part where you said even the people who got their phone Complaint are also getting the non Approved messages.

As I sold my siblings Samsung Galaxy S8 PTA Complaint to one of my friends and he Still got the spam Non Approved messages from PTA.

Even we rechecked the IMEI on PTA's website & on it's official app and it said "PTA COMPLAINT/APPROVED" Lol.

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[XPremiuM]

I am using non registered note 8. Got messages from pta that it will be blocked after 60 days and it is still working after 60 days. I informed the shopkeeper about the messages and he said don't worry it will not be blocked. He said many people who got their phones registered also getting these messages. He is taking full responsibility if it gets blocked.

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See, that's what I'm talking about. Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback.

I have yet to see a person whose IMEI got blocked. I hope things remain that way...

 

[Hypnotic]

See, that's what I'm talking about. Thank you for sharing your valuable feedback.

I have yet to see a person whose IMEI got blocked. I hope things remain that way...

Shopkeeper showed me this message that even people got it and their phone is not blocked. I was also worried about my phone but it is still running after 60 days.
آپکے موبائل ڈیوائس کا (**************)PTA IMEI
سے تصدیق شدہ نہیں ہے۔،آپ اپنے موبائل ڈیوائس کو پر 2019-02-08 سے استعمال کررہے ہیں۔آپکا مقررہ ساٹھ (60) دن کا وقت ختم ہوچکا ہے،لہذا آپکا IMEI کو بلاک کررہے ہیں۔


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[smaaz]

What about gazillions of US kits available in market or being used are those PTA approved or what?

I have used plenty of these US/korean kits before

 

[XPremiuM]

What about gazillions of US kits available in market or being used are those PTA approved or what?

I have used plenty of these US/korean kits before

Currently the market has both approved & non-approved kits for sale. Obviously the Approved ones are limited in amount & will run out of stock eventually.

AFAIK, all of the US/KOR/JAP/etc kits that are being imported now are all non-approved. So you'll have to look for old stock if you want a approved piece.

 

[mbk99]

Yeah most the Smartphones sold in the market are Non Approved Kits only.

As recently on 25th March the "All Pakistan Smartphone Association" recorded a Nationwide protest against PTA Tac/Type Approval system, claiming they have invested million of rupees in this used mobile non Approved Kits Smartphones and it is a "economic murder of poor merchants" As rich merchants directly buy from Companies like Samsung, Vivo, Huawei etc whereas they can only invest in US/UK/Korean Stock Kits due to their low budget.

They even claimed most of Pak buyers market can't afford Flagships Smartphone hence that's why even some themselves prefer Kits.

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[XPremiuM]

Yeah most the Smartphones sold in the market are Non Approved Kits only.

As recently on 25th March the "All Pakistan Smartphone Association" recorded a Nationwide protest against PTA Tac/Type Approval system, claiming they have invested million of rupees in this used mobile non Approved Kits Smartphones and it is a "economic murder of poor merchants" As rich merchants directly buy from Companies like Samsung, Vivo, Huawei etc whereas they can only invest in US/UK/Korean Stock Kits due to their low budget.

They even claimed most of Pak buyers market can't afford Flagships Smartphone hence that's why even some themselves prefer Kits.

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They are right on both points. The mobile kit sale/purchase business is widespread in Pak & a lot of merchants are affected by this DIBRS BS. Also, the wide majority of users buy kit phones as well, and are not happy with this PTA approval thing either.

 

[mbk99]

Yeah with the consistent Dollar Rupee deteriorations and with this new PTA Dirbs system. The prices of new & even used got pretty high.

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[iampasha]

Yeah with the consistent Dollar Rupee deteriorations and with this new PTA Dirbs system. The prices of new & even used got pretty high.

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Kinda off topic but how's that Nokia 7 plus going for you? Are Nokia phones worth the premium they ask? I have my eyes on the Nokia 5.1 plus. I'm not worried about OS because they run stock Android but how's the other things (gaming, media, battery and most importantly, cameras)

Sent from my Android

 

[mbk99]

Well I personally love & prefer Stock Android and it bring timely OS and monthly security patches.

The Nokia 7 Plus can be simply defined as "Google Pixel 2 Mini" the battery life is pretty good, very good performance for day to day tasks, Decent Cameras (even though I personally don't use camera much at all).

But apart from Stock Android most internal specs depend a lot on Processor/Chipset especially Qualcomm. And the Nokia 7 Plus is Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 660 an very good Mid-range Processor, coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB storage.

The SD 660 is powerful and most importantly power efficient too which affects the battery.

While Nokia 5.1 Plus is powered by Mediatek Processor which are generally powerful but have only decent battery optimization.

My suggestion would be to look for Nokia 6.1 Plus instead, as it has Snapdragon 630 processor which is pretty decent for day to day tasks.

Or a PG seller is even selling a kit only Essential PH-1 Smartphone (which was made by Andy Rubin who is known as co founder of Android) for about 33K Running on Stock Android with Snapdragon 835 Processor, which is slightly old now but still it beats most of today's processors, and the phone itself runs on latest Android version and premium Ceramic build quality. Overall it was a Flagship Smartphone which got a lot of stick due it's Camera not matching the camera of its rival like Samsung or Google Smartphones.

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