Govt Setting Up Mechanism To File CyberCrime Complaints Online

With advances in technology and its use by unsuspecting public, the chances of cybercrime increases manifold. More so in a country like India that is famous for providing the best IT conversant manpower to the world, there is every likelihood of some experts going astray and resorting to online fraud and crime. Not only the experts, any person with a criminal mindset and with net access can digitally play nuisance for the society.  In order to tackle the menace of growing cybercrime in the country, the Centre has decided to set up a mechanism under which people can file a complaint online and they will not have to visit a police station. Briefing the Supreme Court about the measures taken to handle cyber crimes, the government said a ‘Centre Citizen Portal’ was being designed and any complaint pertaining to online pornography, cyber stalking, online financial fraud etc could be registered on the portal.

“The portal shall facilitate online reporting of any crime by the citizen. The complainant could be the affected person himself or a good samaritan who wants to inform an observed crime to the police. The service will be particularly beneficial to women, senior citizens or other minorities by providing them a convenient way to report the crime from the confines of their home or any cyber kiosk,” the Centre’s affidavit said.

“Each complaint shall trigger an alert to the police station/SP office or the state level office for police to take action on it. The police department in turn will be able to view and act on it and have the provision to update the complaint status. The citizen will receive the status update alert on his shared mobile number,” it said.

The government said a complainant could access to the portal any time to view updates and he would also be able to forward his complaint to a higher office, if not satisfied with the action taken. The affidavit was filed after the apex court slammed the Centre for not being serious in framing a scheme for registration and probe of cyber crime cases.