What happened: Supreme Court directions to curb ‘digital arrest’ scams

The Supreme Court issued directions to prevent ‘digital arrest’ scams and other cyber-enabled fraud. The Court asked the Centre, States/UTs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and telecom authorities to frame and operationalise standard operating procedures (SOPs) that cover complaint handling, victim grievance redress, criminal investigation triggers, and money restoration for defrauded victims.

Core directions included victim redress, zero FIRs and money restoration

The Supreme Court directed authorities to build workable mechanisms in the following areas:

What changed now: time-bound SOPs and operational mechanisms

The Supreme Court set specific timelines and coordination requirements for implementation:

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