The “e-Zero FIR” pilot in Delhi endeavours to instantly transform any complaint of financial cyber-crime exceeding ₹10 lakh — lodged through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal or the 1930 helpline — into a formal FIR, cutting out the discretionary delays. By combining the Delhi Police’s e-FIR platform with the National Crime Records Bureau’s CCTNS infrastructure, the scheme promises rapid case registration, and frictionless investigation.

The Zero-FIR mechanism allows an FIR for a cognisable-offence to be registered at any police station, regardless of where the crime has been committed. The report is assigned the serial number “0” and is subsequently transferred to the competent police station. The concept can be traced to Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS), bolstered by the embargo contained under Section 175(2) of the BNSS against a challenge to a police investigation for want of territorial jurisdiction.

Earlier, police stations could routinely decline registration of an FIR when the alleged offence was committed beyond their territorial limits. The government’s recent move nullifies this jurisdictional obstacle and allows for registration of an FIR based on a complaint of cybercrime immediately, irrespective where the crime was committed.

Secondly, the automated registration of FIR ensures that the police cannot, by inertia or design, defeat the mandate of Section 173 of the BNSS and the judgment of the Supreme Court and various High Courts, which requires the compulsory registration of an FIR in certain cases.

Thirdly, the instantaneous registration of FIRs empowers the victims of high-value financial cyber-crimes as well as statutory regulators to monitor the crime through a well-documented and accountable investigative process. The immediate registration of FIR also reduces the evidentiary preservation time, crucial for effective investigation.

Moreover, the reform has palpable social value. Victims of high-value cyber-fraud, who are typically professionals and businesses whose liquidity is abruptly compromised on account of the committed crime, face the dual hardship of monetary loss and administrative red-herring. However, the automatic FIR registration, coupled with the potential of early blocking of funds, reverses that paradigm and places the burden on the State to act expeditiously.

The ₹10 lakh threshold, while pragmatic for an inaugural phase, leaves numerous mid-value victims outside its ambit. An eventual rationalisation — or removal — of the cap could also benefit various economically-limited sections of the population.

Additionally, the automated mechanism would also require clear standard operating procedures and consistent oversight to filter frivolous or malicious complaints that may have triggered an FIR.

Weighed against the chronic hurdles that have dogged cyber-crime policing, the e-Zero FIR stands out as a welcome step. By marrying the principle of jurisdiction-agnostic access to the precision of digital infrastructure, it charts a credible path towards timely, victim-centred justice in the online age.

This article was originally published in The Hindu Business Line on 26 May 2025 Written/ Co-written by: Aditya Mukherjee, Partner; Krishna Tangirala, Principal Associate; Sankalp Udgata, Associate. Click here for original article

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