As many as 3,17,439 cybercrime incidents and 5,771 First Information Report (FIRs) have been registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal over a period of 18 months ending February 28, 2021, Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Kishan Reddy, informed the Lok Sabha in a reply to a question on March 9, 2021.
These reported incidents include 21,562 cybercrime incidents and 87 FIRs registered in Karnataka, and 50,806 cybercrime incidents and 534 FIRs registered in Maharashtra. These two states account for 23 percent of all the cybercrime incidents reported and 11 percent of the FIRs registered on the portal.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs operationalized the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on 30th August 2019 to provide a centralized mechanism to the citizens for online reporting of all types of cybercrime incidents, with a special focus on cyber crimes against women and children,” the Minister said in his reply. “Incidents reported on this portal, their conversion into FIRs, and subsequent action thereon are handled by the State/UT law enforcement agency concerned as per the provisions of the law.”
He further added that “the MHA holds regular interactions with the State/UTs and advises them to expedite the disposal of cybercrime incidents reported with special emphasis on disposal of incidents pertaining to women and children.”
As many as 21796, 27248, and 44546 cyber-crime cases were registered during the years 2017, 2018, and 2019 respectively, another reply earlier on February 10, had informed the Lok Sabha, citing data reported under the MHA’s National Crime Records Bureau. These reported cases indicate a 63 percent increase over a period of one year.
