Alfa Mobiles

Every box PTA-approved, every IMEI checked

In 2001, Haji Rafiq Ahmed opened a two-shutter shop behind the Y-block market, when the counter's best phone was a Nokia 3310 and the whole stock fit inside one glass case. Twenty-five years on, his son Usman runs two branches — Y-block and H-block — and the case now holds flagships between two and five lakh rupees. The policy has not changed, through the dollar shocks and the LC squeeze: every box PTA-approved, IMEI checked with the customer before the money moves.

The second generation runs both counters now — Usman at Y-block, his nephew Kamran at H-block. Haji Rafiq arrives at Maghrib, opens the first box of every consignment, and sends back stock he couldn't IMEI-verify at the counter.