New Delhi: Taking a stern view of the escalating digital arrest cyber frauds across the country, the Supreme Court has issued several crucial interim directions. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant ordered the Reserve Bank of India to formulate a standard operating procedure within four weeks to deal with mule accounts and bank accounts linked to cyber fraud.
During the proceedings, the court noted that following its previous orders, proactive steps have been taken by the central government, I4C, CBI, banks, and other agencies. According to court figures, digital arrest fraud complaints dropped from 1,23,672 in 2024 to 58,249 in 2025, and further down to 16,377 by June 30, 2026. While the defrauded amount has also seen a decline, the court stressed that continuous monitoring remains essential.
Recovery and Investigation Scope
The court revealed that roughly 18.05 crore rupees have been successfully restored to victims across 36,290 cases through the money restoration mechanism. Meanwhile, the e-zero FIR system is operational in 19 states, whereas only 14 states have launched state cyber crime coordination centers.
Highlighting the CBI probe, the bench stated that the central agency has initiated investigations into 10 digital arrest cases. In a single case, authorities uncovered 238 victims, 67 bank accounts, and transactions amounting to nearly 80 crore rupees, triggering raids across 93 locations in 16 states.
Key Directives Issued by the Court
- The RBI must prepare an SOP on mule accounts within four weeks and dispatch it to the registrar generals of all high courts.
- All states and union territories should swiftly operationalize the grievance redressal and money restoration modules while popularizing them among the public.
- All high courts must inform their subordinate courts about this framework so that victims dealing with frozen bank accounts due to cyber fraud can utilize the system promptly.
- States that have yet to implement the state cyber crime coordination center or e-zero FIR system must launch them within four weeks.
- Cases connected to bank accounts frozen during cyber frauds should be resolved expeditiously.
- The central government inter-departmental committee must run massive nationwide awareness campaigns regarding digital arrest, cybersecurity, grievance registration, and fund recovery procedures.
- Robust technological mechanisms should be developed in coordination with banks and digital platforms to prevent digital arrest scams, simplify investigations, and aid fund recovery.
- All state legal services authorities must also conduct awareness drives focusing on cybercrime prevention and digital arrest awareness.
Exploring Compensation Frameworks
Furthermore, the bench directed the central government's inter-departmental committee to explore the feasibility of establishing a shared liability and victim compensation system. The Supreme Court concluded that while the progress achieved so far is satisfactory, rapid nationwide implementation and rigorous ongoing monitoring of these frameworks are imperative.
