Financial Tribune - The implementation of the Mobile Phone Registry Scheme, in line with e-governance policies, as well as a means to curb the smuggling of cellphones, has generated three times the previous amount in state revenues by customs duties and taxes levied on mobile phone imports.

"The government income from import tariffs and taxes on mobile phone imports was 7.15 trillion rials [$162.5 million] between September 2016 and May 2017. After the Registry Scheme was introduced, between September 2017 and May 2018, the earnings jumped to 21 trillion rials ($477.2 million)," Hamid Reza Dehqaninia, ICT head at the Headquarters to Combat Smuggling of Goods and Foreign Exchange, was reported as saying by local technology news website zoomit.ir.

Besides mobile phones, the scheme is to cover imports of other communications-related electronics in the coming days.