New Delhi, May 19 (UNI) In a significant step to 'Cyber Secure Bharat', the Home Ministry's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) on Monday introduced the new e-Zero FIR initiative to nab any criminal with unprecedented speed.

In his post on ‘X’, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that launched as a pilot project for Delhi, the new system will automatically convert cyber financial crimes filed at NCRP or 1930 to FIRs, initially above the threshold limit of Rs 10 lakh. The new system, which will drive investigations swiftly cracking down on cybercriminals, will soon be extended to the entire nation.

This is a significant step to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a 'Cyber Secure Bharat'. Shah had given instructions for implementation of this initiative in a recent review meeting of Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) keeping in view the difficulties faced by victims of cyber financial crimes in recovery of the money lost, a Home Ministry statement said.

The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 has enabled easy reporting and prompt actioning on complaints related to cyber financial crimes. The newly introduced process involves integration of I4C’s NCRP system, Delhi Police’s e-FIR system and National Crime Record Bureau’s (NCRB) Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS).

Now complaints related to financial losses above the threshold limit of Rs 10 lakh made to NCRP and 1930 will automatically lead to registration of a Zero FIR with the e-Crime Police Station of Delhi. This will be immediately routed to the territorial Cybercrime Police Stations. Complainants can visit the cybercrime police station within three days and get the Zero FIR converted into a regular FIR.

Delhi Police and Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) have worked together to put in place a process for registration of cases in accordance with the new provisions of Section 173 (1) and 1(ii) of Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).

This process of issuing FIRs electronically irrespective of territorial jurisdiction (e-Zero FIR) will initially start in Delhi as a pilot. Subsequently it will be extended to other states and UTs. The e-Crime police station of Delhi has been notified for the registration of e-FIRs and transferring them to jurisdictional police stations in Cybercrime complaints of a specified nature reported on NCRP.

This initiative will improve the conversion of NCRP/1930 complaints into FIRs enabling easy restoration of money lost by victims and facilitate punitive action against cyber criminals. It leverages the provisions of the recently introduced new criminal laws.

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