Lok Sabha Question No. 2504 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-06
Subject: Increasing Cyber Crimes
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Raja A

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2504

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 06 TH  AUGUST, 2024/ SHRAVAN 15, 1946 (SAKA)

INCREASING CYBER CRIMES

2504. SHRI RAJA A:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a) whether the incidents of online transaction frauds, cyber crimes have been increasing continuously in the country during the last few years;

(b) if so, the details of reported cyber crimes during the last three years;

(c) the reasons for continuous increase in the cyber crimes; and

(d) the details of efforts being made by the Government to check these crimes and to prevent such crimes through public awareness and to strengthen the cyber security network throughout the country, with the coordination of State machinery?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI BANDI SANJAY KUMAR)

( a ) to (d) : The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) compiles and publishes the statistical data on crimes in its publication 'Crime in India'. The latest published report is for the year 2022. As per the data published by the NCRB, cases registered under cyber crime head (involving communication devices as medium/target) during the period from 2020 to 2022 are as under:

L.S.US.Q.NO. 2504 FOR 06.08.2024

| Cyber Crimes     | Year   | Year   | Year   |
|------------------|--------|--------|--------|
|                  | 2020   | 2021   | 2022   |
| Cases registered |        |        |        |
|                  | 50,035 | 52,974 | 65,893 |

'Police'  and  'Public  Order'  are  State  subjects  as  per  the  Seventh Schedule of the Constitution of India. The States/UTs are primarily responsible for  the  prevention,  detection,  investigation  and  prosecution  of  crimes including  online  transaction  frauds  and  cyber  crime  through  their  Law Enforcement Agencies. The challenges of cyber space are many which flow from its vastness  and  borderless  character.  The  Central  Government supplements the initiatives of the States/UTs through advisories and financial assistance under various schemes for capacity building of their LEAs.

To strengthen the mechanism to deal with cyber crimes in a comprehensive and  coordinated  manner,  the  Central  Government  has  taken  steps  which, inter-alia, include the following:

- i. The  Ministry  of  Home  Affairs  has  set  up  the  'Indian  Cyber  Crime Coordination Centre' (I4C) as an attached office  to deal with all types of  cyber  crime  in  the  country,  in  a  coordinated  and  comprehensive manner.

- ii. Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been constituted for Mewat, Jamtara, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Vishakhapatnam, and Guwahati under I4C covering the whole country based  upon  cyber  crime  hotspots/  areas  having  multi  jurisdictional issues by on boarding States/UTs to enhance the coordination framework  among  the  Law  Enforcement  Agencies  of  the  States/UTs. Seven workshops were organized for JCCTs at Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Guwahati, Vishakhapatnam, Lucknow, Ranchi and Chandigarh in 2023.
- iii. The state of the art 'National Cyber Forensic Laboratory (Investigation)' has been established, as a part of the I4C, at New Delhi to provide early stage  cyber  forensic  assistance  to  Investigating  Officers  (IOs)  of State/UT Police. So far, National Cyber Forensics Laboratory (Investigation) has provided its services to State LEAs in around 10,200 cyber forensics like mobile forensics, memory forensics, CDR Analysis, etc. to help them in investigation of cases pertaining to cyber crimes.
- iv. The 'National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal' (https://cybercrime.gov.in) has  been  launched,  as  a  part  of  the  I4C,  to  enable  public  to  report incidents pertaining to all types of cyber crimes, with special focus on cyber  crimes  against  women  and  children.  Cyber  crime  incidents reported  on  this  portal,  their  conversion  into  FIRs and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT Law Enforcement Agencies concerned as per the provisions of the law.

- v. The 'Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System', under I4C, has been launched for immediate reporting of financial frauds and  to  stop  siphoning  off  funds  by  the  fraudsters.  So  far,  financial amount of more than Rs. 2400 Crore has been saved in more than 7.6 lakh complaints. A toll-free Helpline number '1930' has been operationalized to get assistance in lodging online cyber complaints.
- vi. The Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) platform, namely 'CyTrain' portal  has  been  developed  under  I4C,  for  capacity  building  of  police officers/judicial  officers  through  online  course  on  critical  aspects  of cyber  crime  investigation, forensics, prosecution  etc. along with certification.  More  than  96,288  Police  Officers  from  States/UTs  are registered and more than 70,992 Certificates issued through the portal.
- vii. Till date more than 5.8 lakhs SIM cards and 1,08,000 IMEIs as reported by Police authorities have been blocked by Government of India.
- viii. I4C  has  imparted  cyber  hygiene  training  to  6,800  officials  of  various Ministries/ Departments of Government of India.
- ix. I4C  has  imparted  cyber  hygiene  training  to  more  than  35,000  NCC cadets.
- x. The Ministry of Home Affairs has provided financial assistance to the tune  of  Rs.  131.60  crores  under  the  'Cyber  Crime  Prevention  against Women  and  Children  (CCPWC)'  Scheme,  to  the  States/UTs  for  their capacity  building  such  as  setting  up  of  cyber  forensic-cum-training

laboratories,  hiring  of  junior  cyber  consultants  and  training  of  LEAs' personnel, public prosecutors and judicial officers. Cyber forensic-cumtraining  laboratories  have  been  commissioned  in  33  States/UTs  and more than 24,600 LEA personnel, judicial officers and prosecutors have been  provided training on cyber crime awareness,  investigation, forensics etc.

- xi. National  Cyber  Forensic  Laboratory  (Evidence)  has  been  set  up  at Hyderabad.  Establishment  of  this  laboratory  provides  the  necessary forensic support in cases of evidence related to cyber crime, preserving the evidence and its analysis in line with the provisions of IT Act and Evidence Act; and reduced turnaround time.
- xii. To spread awareness on cyber crime, the Central Government has taken steps  which,  inter-alia,  include;  dissemination  of  messages  through SMS, I4C social media account i.e. X (formerly Twitter) (@CyberDost), Facebook(CyberDostI4C), Instagram (cyberDostI4C), Telegram(cyberdosti4c), Radio campaign, engaged MyGov for publicity in multiple mediums, organizing Cyber Safety and Security Awareness weeks  in  association  with  States/UTs,  publishing  of  Handbook  for Adolescents/Students, etc. The States/UTs have also been requested to carry out publicity to create mass awareness.

*****