New Delhi: The Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), which comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs, introduced the new e-Zero FIR initiative to nab cybercriminals with unprecedented speed, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday.

Started as a pilot project for Delhi, the new system will automatically convert into FIRs cyber financial crimes filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and helpline number 1930, initially above the threshold limit of Rs 10 lakh, he said.

The minister said the process of issuing FIRs electronically, irrespective of territorial jurisdiction, will soon be extended to the entire nation.

This initiative will enable easy restoration of money lost by victims and facilitate punitive action against cyber criminals. It leverages the provisions of the recently introduced criminal laws, an official statement said.

"The MHA's Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C) introduced the new e-Zero FIR initiative to nab any criminal with unprecedented speed.

"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," Shah wrote on 'X'.

The home minister said the Modi government is bolstering the cybersecurity grid to build a cyber-secure Bharat.

The I4C was established by the MHA in New Delhi to provide a framework and ecosystem for law enforcement agencies to deal with cybercrime in a coordinated and comprehensive manner.

The I4C is envisaged to act as the nodal point to curb cybercrime in the country.

This is a significant step to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of a 'Cyber Secure Bharat', the official statement said.

The home minister had given instructions for the implementation of this initiative in a recent review meeting of the I4C, keeping in view the difficulties faced by victims of cyber financial crimes in the recovery of the money lost.

The National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 have enabled easy reporting and prompt action 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.

The Delhi Police and the 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, the statement said.

Disclaimer: This story is from the syndicated feed. Nothing has been changed except the headline.