Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Nov 11: The Supreme Court has directed WhatsApp and other intermediaries to submit details of the measures they propose to undertake to prevent digital arrest scams and related cybercrimes in the country.

In an order uploaded on the court's website following the October 29 hearing in a suo motu case titled ‘In Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents’, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant directed WhatsApp and other intermediaries to simultaneously submit their proposals to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C).

The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, has listed the matter for further consideration on November 23.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, had informed the bench that the platform had already taken preventive measures, including action against 9,400 accounts, and would file an affidavit detailing the steps taken.

He had also submitted that the platform was developing software to identify suspicious accounts and alert users.

“WhatsApp LLC (A Meta company) and other concerned intermediaries are also directed to apprise this Court of the measures they propose to undertake to prevent the digital arrest scams and related cybercrimes. They shall also simultaneously submit their proposals to the I4C,” the bench said in its order.

On October 29, the apex court had emphasised that financial institutions must be held accountable for digital arrest scams and other cyber frauds. It had said banks should be required to compensate victims for their losses if an investigation establishes that the fraud occurred due to the institution's failure to exercise due diligence.

“We reiterate and emphasize that the regulatory measures proposed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) must mandate and incorporate suitable provisions that require financial institutions to indemnify victims of digital arrest scams and other cyber frauds and pay suitable compensation not less than the amount lost by the customer, where it is established that the fraud or crime occurred due to the failure on the part of the financial institution to exercise due diligence in preventing or reporting the act/incident,” the bench said in the order.

During the hearing, the CJI had questioned why banks could not intervene when customers attempted to transfer unusually large sums of money that were inconsistent with their established transaction patterns.

“We have also emphasised in the past various preventive safeguards that must be mandated for every financial institution. These may include temporarily suspending unusual or suspicious transactions inconsistent with the account's past transaction history, automatically intimating such transactions to the nearest police station, and subsequently physically verifying the reported transactions to ascertain their genuineness,” the order stated.

To ensure effective implementation of the regulatory measures proposed by the RBI and the court's directions, the bench also directed the central bank to submit a list of all authorised financial institutions before the court on the next date of hearing.

Noting that cybercrimes had declined by 50% but victims had nevertheless lost Rs 800 crore so far this year, the bench said the proposed RBI regulatory framework must include enforceable provisions for compensation, preventive intervention and institutional accountability.

The CJI had said the bench would first examine the proposed RBI Know Your Customer (KYC) Amendment Directions, 2026, before allowing the regulatory process to proceed.

The directions are proposed to be notified by November 30 and operationalised by December 31.

Describing banks as a "protective umbrella" for vulnerable customers, the CJI had observed that financial institutions possessed information about their account holders, including their transaction histories, and should use that knowledge to prevent fraud before money was transferred out of an account.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Centre and other authorities, informed the bench that substantial work had been undertaken to improve the detection of suspicious transactions and strengthen preventive mechanisms within the banking system.

The bench also directed law enforcement agencies in all states and Union territories to submit reports detailing the FIRs registered in digital arrest scam cases and the investigations arising from them.

The agencies have further been asked to suggest measures for the prevention, detection and prosecution of such offences.

The Directors General of Police (DGPs) of all states and Union territories have been directed to ensure compliance with the court's directions.

The reports must be submitted to the inter-departmental committee coordinating the government's response. The bench further directed that copies of the reports furnished to the court should also be forwarded to the committee.