Digital arrests: SC tells RBI to frame SOP on mule A/Cs

New Delhi: To curb the rising menace of digital arrests, Supreme Court on Tuesday directed RBI to prepare a standard operating procedure (SOP) within four weeks to deal with mule accounts.

A three-member bench headed by CJI Surya Kant passed a slew of directions after perusing a status report filed by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C). The report detailed the steps taken by various ministries, regulators, investigating agencies, banks and intermediaries pursuant to the court's earlier interim orders.

The bench directed states, Union Territories and law enforcement agencies to expeditiously operationalise the Grievance Redressal Module and the Money Restoration Module. It directed states that are yet to notify state cybercrime coordination centres to do so within four weeks and adopt the e-Zero FIR mechanism in consultation with I4C.The bench directed the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Department of Telecommunications and I4C, in consultation with the concerned intermediaries, to examine a proposal relating to time-based restrictions on telecom services for audio and video calls.

Registrar generals of high courts have been directed to inform courts and adjudicating authorities dealing with bank account freezing in cyber fraud cases about these grievance mechanisms. SC directed authorities to ensure expeditious disposal of bank account freezing cases arising out of cyber-enabled financial fraud.

The Inter-Departmental Committee has been asked to consult banks and intermediaries on technological measures that may be adopted to: (i) prevent digital arrest scams; (ii) assist in the recovery of defrauded amounts; (iii) facilitate the investigation of digital arrest cases; and (iv) ensure cooperation and compliance with all applicable statutory obligations and legal requirements.

The bench also asked the committee to examine a proposal for a shared liability and victim compensation framework. SC further directed the committee to continue examining whether the threshold of monetary loss for the CBI investigation of digital arrest scams should be lowered and whether organised frauds can be aggregated to meet the threshold.

SC recommended that State Legal Services Authorities must undertake public awareness initiatives on the prevention of digital arrest scams, cybercrime awareness, cybersecurity, and the assistance available for the recovery of defrauded amounts.