Grest partners with Centre for Development of Telematics, Ministry of Communications (CDOT) to integrate with government’s IMEI Verification System under Sanchar Saathi

By Pamela

Becomes the first private-sector company to Authenticate Devices on Its Refurbished Electronics Platform through Sanchaar Sathi

 Gurugram, June 4, 2026

 Leading refurbished electronics platform Grest has partnered with C-DOT (Centre for Development of Telematics, Ministry of Communications) to integrate with the IMEI Verification System (IVS) as part of the government’s Sanchar Saathi initiative.

 Grest has become the first private-sector player to go live on the platform, which enables real-time verification of device authenticity against a central government IMEI database. C-DOT has issued a formal certificate of recognition to Grest, dated June 3, 2026, acknowledging the integration.

 The move comes against the backdrop of a significant and growing device theft and fraud problem in India. According to Government estimates, approximately 50,000 mobile phones are stolen every month in the country. The Press Information Bureau reported that the Sanchar Saathi portal, since its launch, has blocked over 42 Lakh devices, and authorities have separately blocked over 6.2 Lakh IMEIs linked to cyber fraud. The Ministry of Communications has flagged that stolen and blacklisted handsets are routinely resold in the secondary market, creating legal and financial risk for buyers. It is this specific vulnerability, where a fraudulent device changes hands through an organized platform, that the IVS integration is designed to address.

The refurbished electronics market in India has grown rapidly in scale but has remained operationally complex and perception-sensitive. Companies in the space are required to solve not just for supply and pricing, but for standardization and consumer confidence. Device authenticity has been among the hardest problems to crack credibly, given the absence of a verifiable, centralized source of truth. The IVS integration gives Grest access to precisely that, a government-maintained IMEI database against which every device on its platform can now be checked before a transaction is completed.

For Grest, this is less a compliance exercise and more a commercial differentiator. The company has built its model on the premise that refurbished electronics, done right, can compete on trust and not just price. First-mover status on IVS integration translates that premise into something verifiable and auditable. 

“ India's refurbished electronics sector is large, fast-growing, and operationally complex, but it has been held back by a persistent trust gap. Our integration with the IVS platform under Sanchar Saathi addresses that gap at its root, providing consumers and trade partners with a government-backed layer of device verification they can rely on. As the first company in India to achieve this integration, Grest is setting a new standard of building inside the regulatory framework,” said Shrey Sardana, Co-founder & CEO, Grest.

Grest was founded by Shrey Sardana and Nitin Goyal in 2018 and operates at the intersection of affordability, standardization, and sustainability. The company operates in a market IDC pegs at 154 million units, growing at 5.5% year-on-year, with industry estimates pointing to 20 million used smartphones traded in 2024 alone and a clear shift toward premium devices. Grest has been building an omnichannel presence to capture this shift, targeting consumers who want the value proposition of refurbished without the trust deficit that has historically accompanied it.

In April this year, Grest closed a foreign direct investment from ICMG, a Japanese venture capital firm, as part of its Pre-Series A round, marking its first cross-border capital infusion. The entry of international capital at the pre-Series A stage reflects growing global conviction in India’s recommerce infrastructure and its long-term viability as an organized category.

 Shikha Srivastava, Executive Vice President and Board Member, C-DOT, noted in the certificate of recognition that Grest’s onboarding marks a significant achievement in supporting transparency, authenticity, and consumer trust within the telecom and device aftermarket industry.

About Grest