22 Lakh Complaints Against Cybercrime on National Portal, But States’ FIR Count Is Only 2%: RTI Reaction

Data obtained in response to a Right to Information (RTI) Act request from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which is in charge of managing the portal, shows that while the National Cyber Crime Reporting portal received a staggering 22,57,808 complaints between January 1, 2020 and May 15, 2023, only 43,022 First Information Reports (FIRs), or 1.9%, have been registered by states.

The site, which was introduced in 2020, operates as a crucial conduit for reporting cybercrimes and serves as a middleman, transmitting the complaints to the relevant states and union territories for any required police action since the police apparatus is under the control of state governments.

The Center took the initiative to encourage victims and complainants to file online reports of cybercrime. The portal addresses cases involving child pornography (CP), child sexual abuse material (CSAM), rape/gang rape (CP/RGR), mobile crimes, online and social media crimes, online financial frauds, ransomware, hacking, cryptocurrency crimes, and online cyber trafficking.

Particularly for internet child pornography and sexually graphic material like rape/gang rape, it permits anonymous reporting.

PORNOGRAPHY OF CHILDREN, RAP

In the categories of rape/gang rape and internet child pornography, a total of 1,58,190 complaints have been made. The states have submitted a total of 154 FIRs, or 0.09%. The state with the most complaints in these categories is West Bengal (67,082), followed by Tamil Nadu (12,785) and Maharashtra (10,878). 13, 3, and 9 FIRs, respectively, have been filed by the states.

FINANCIAL CYBERFRAUD

State governments have filed FIRs in 42,868 instances (2%), out of 20,99,618 reports of financial cyberfraud. With 3,84,942 instances, Uttar Pradesh has the most, followed by Maharashtra (1,95,409) and Delhi (2,16,739). In each of these states, the proportion of FIRs is still less than 2%.

However, Telangana is an exception, as the state records the highest percentage of FIRs at 17%.

EXPERTSPEAK

The data was acquired by RTI activist Jeetendra Ghadge of The Young Whistleblowers Foundation in Mumbai. He added, “The platform makes it simple for individuals throughout the nation to submit a complaint. However, the purpose of it is limited by state governments’ failure to register FIRs. It is critical that the federal government and state governments work together to find a solution to stop the rising threat of cybercrimes in view of the fast improvements in technology and shifting criminal behavior. Financial scams need to be addressed in particular because they cause vulnerable people to lose their hard-earned money.