RBI's Phone Lock Ban Hits Tripura Mobile Business: Impact on Youth & Students (2025)

Mobile phone businesses in Tripura are facing a severe setback following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) new directive that prohibits locking of handsets in case of EMI payment defaults.Many individuals, including students in Tripura have reportedly stopped receiving any offer of loan against purchase of mobile phones which is a critical device for their education. Students have reported that mobile phones and AI are integral part of their job application as well as academic curriculum.Earlier they were given more offers of easy EMI repayment and now are struggling to arrange entire payment in cash at 1 go. According to Bimal Banik, a well-known mobile phone dealer in Agartala, nearly 50 percent of customers are being rejected for any loan offers on mobile phones now most of them being the youth and from lower middle income. As per him, mobile phones are an essential item for them and are having to compromise because of lack of micro finance facilities as earlier.

As a result, the impact has been drastic, overall mobile phone sales in the local market have dropped by nearly half making viability of the stores and the manpower within the shops a big risk.Dealers argue that without the phone-locking system, EMI-based sales have become unviable as all lenders have backed off considerably. They warn that unless the earlier system is reinstated, many lower-income customers ,especially the youth, in Tripura will lose access to smartphones, which had previously been made affordable through easy EMI options.