The government on Monday said Indians suffered a total loss of Rs. 219.73 crore since 2011 due to cyber frauds and as many as 24,882 cases were registered by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in the same period for such crimes.
“As per information available with RBI, total monetary loss suffered by Indians (as reported to RBI) is Rs. 38 crore, Rs. 67 crore and Rs. 54 crore during the years 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14 (up to September 30, 2013),” Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.
He added that the amount of monetary loss in the cases registered by the CBI is Rs. 8.85 crore (2011), Rs. 3.39 crore (2012) and Rs. 48.49 crore (up to November 30, 2013).
“As per information available with RBI, 10048, 8765 and 6035 fraud related cyber crime cases have been reported to the RBI during 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2013-14 (up to September 30, 2013). CBI has registered 12, 11, and 11 cases during 2011, 2012, and 2013 (up to November 30, 2013) respectively,” he added.
Mr. Deora said with increasing penetration of Internet, mobile, computer, proliferation of Information Technology (IT) applications and online services, e-commerce and payments through credit and debit cards, the number of cyber crimes being reported has shown a rising trend during the recent past.
“However, the trend in increase in cyber incidents is similar to that worldwide,” he added.
He said since Police and Public order are state subjects, state governments and union territory administrations are primarily responsible for prevention, detection, registration and investigation of crimes including cyber crime and for prosecuting the criminals within their jurisdictions.
“Existing legal framework - Information Technology Act, 2000, together with the Indian Penal Code and other laws comprehensively addresses the cyber crimes,” he said to a query if existing laws are capable to tackle cyber crime.
