The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has introduced the new e-Zero FIR initiative, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced. Under this initiative, the new system will automatically convert cybercrime and fraud complaints that victims report on either the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) or the 1930 helpline to e-Zero First Information Reports (FIRs).
However, the Government said that the system will only automatically convert complaints of cyber crimes worth above Rs. 10 lakh into FIRs. Notably, the MHA failed to provide the rationale for such a high threshold.
It said the new initiative will link the I4C’s portal with the Delhi Police’s e-FIR system and the National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS). The Centre claims that this “will drive investigations swiftly, cracking down on cybercriminals.”
The system will work according to Sections 173 (1) and 1(ii) of the Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), according to the press release. These sections provide for the procedure of recording information relating to a cognizable offence, “irrespective of the area where the offence is committed,” for oral or electronic communication to a police officer in charge of a police station.
The initiative is currently in the pilot project phase in Delhi, and the e-Crime Police Station there has been officially notified to register e-Zero FIRs and forward them to relevant jurisdictions.
Why such a high threshold?
The MHA claims that this initiative will help in facilitating “punitive action against cyber criminals”. But, since the initial threshold is so high, it might not be able to help all victims who are in need of restoration or recourse.
“Based on the fraud empirical work we have done, we observed that while low-income users lost Rs 5,000 in frauds, their personal monthly income was Rs 10,000. Essentially, this led them to lose 50% of their income, causing a high impact for individuals,” Amrita Sengupta, Research Fellow at the CyberBRICS Project, stated at MediaNama’s AI in Fintech event in April 2025.
To explain the Government’s rationale behind the decision, Ajay Kumar, Partner at law firm Triumvir Law, told MediaNama, “This is probably so the system is not overwhelmed in the initial phase. The system needs to be expanded to meet capacity. So they’ve [the I4C] probably started with a threshold purely for operational reasons. In any event, the police have a monetary classification in most jurisdictions for which crimes get investigated by that specialised wing.”
In 2024, the Finance Ministry revealed that the cases of fraud in Unified Payment Interface (UPI) transactions in India increased by 85% in the Financial Year (FY) 2023-24 when compared to FY 2022-23. During the said period, 1.34 million cases totalling Rs 1,087 crore were reported, up from 725,000 cases amounting to Rs 573 crore in FY 2022-23.
What does rbi’s data say?
Elsewhere, the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report for 2023-24 said: “An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that while private sector banks reported maximum number of frauds, public sector banks continued to contribute maximum to the fraud amount. Frauds have occurred predominantly in the category of digital payments (card/internet), in terms of number.”
During 2023-24, public sector banks recorded 7,472 frauds, cumulatively amounting to Rs. 10,507 crore. Meanwhile, private sector banks recorded 24,210 frauds, but the cumulative amount was lower at Rs. 3,170 crore.
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“It will help older people”
Although Kumar believes that the new initiative might help the elderly, there is still room for improvement.
“The scammers target their [senior citizens’] savings mostly. Not their pensions. Most retired people on Government pensions will have blocked savings due to their PF [Provident Fund] and Gratuity encashments,” he said. “It will help many older people. But they will still have to go to the [Police] Station for [recording] statements. They [the Centre] need to parallel roll out police interviewing by video conferencing. If we can give evidence via video calls, we should be able to give statements.”
Another step towards curbing fraud:
This comes almost a month after the Government announced the inclusion of I4C in the list of agencies that will be sharing data with the Enforcement Directorate (ED) under Section 66 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The Centre had then claimed that the move would help detect money trails and combat cyber fraud.
Hence, this is a complementary step towards prosecuting cybercriminals who are laundering money. On this, Kumar said, “They [the I4C] will be able to aggregate data and look for patterns in metadata to prevent crimes.”
Why it matters?
The rising instances of cyber fraud and scams have become a concerning issue in the country. Consequently, the Government of India has started taking strict action against cyber criminals and fraudsters.
The Union Government, in March 2025, said that it had blocked about 83,668 WhatsApp accounts, 3,962 Skype IDs to clamp down on digital arrest incidents in India. On top of this, it blocked 781,000 SIM cards and over 200,000 International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers until February 28, 2025.
Notably in October 2024, Prime Minister Modi, in his radio show ‘Mann Ki Baat’, also warned Indians about the modus operandi of digital arrest perpetrators.
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