Tackling Retail Financial Cyber Crimes in India
Tackling Retail Financial Cyber Crimes in India is an ethnographic study on problems faced by law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in investigation and prosecution of financial cyber crimes in India.
The study draws on complaints filed with Haryana’s unique cyber crimes police station to understand the impact of online frauds on retail digital payments. It is a first of a kind study that uses quantitative data along with qualitative and legal analysis to provide a comprehensive view of the impact of cyber crimes on India’s digital growth ambitions. Authored jointly by a serving Indian Police Service officer and experts from DeepStrat and The Dialogue, the study provides insights from law enforcement, banks, digital payment companies, courts and policymakers.
Recommendations
- There is a need for a dedicated effort to collect structured empirical data on cyber payment frauds to assess the magnitude of the problem countrywide.
- A regulator such as the Reserve Bank of India needs to evolve safety features and processes of all stakeholders in the digital payments’ ecosystem.
- A data sharing standard to ensure timely access to law enforcement for investigations.
- Provisions to make cyber-crime cases compoundable should be reviewed.
- The IT Act under section 78 mandates that only an Inspector or above rank of police can investigate cases registered under section 66 of the law. This needs to be reviewed to increase the pool of investigators available in the small states.
- Cyber-crimes need regular and specialized training capsules for LEAs.
- KYC norms need to be reviewed and strengthened.
- Dedicated police officer to liaison with other states to enable investigation, arrests and prosecution and coordinate.
Read the full report here.
