Between 2016 and Oct 31, 2024, police across all districts in Maharashtra solved only 6,331 of the 39,074 registered cyberfraud cases under the BNS/IPC and IT Act, according to the reply to an RTI application. The reply also revealed a poor recovery rate, with just Rs 86.4 crore retrieved out of Rs 3,085 crore siphoned off by cybercriminals during this period. The RTI reply revealed that 5.65 lakh complaints against cybercrime were filed via the helpline 1930 and the portal cybercrime.gov.in, most of them from Mumbai (1.2 lakh), Pune (65,278), Thane (56,593) and Navi Mumbai (32,057), closely followed by Nagpur (30,637) and Mira-Bhayander (29,739). Of these 5.65 lakh complaints, only 35,738 were converted into FIRs across the state.
Activist Jeetendra Ghadge, who had filed the RTI application on Feb 5, criticized the police’s inadequate response, pointing out the tripling of registered cases from 2,085 in 2016 to 6,450 in 2024. Financial fraud remains the most common cybercrime, with losses skyrocketing to Rs 811 crore in 2024 (till Oct) from Rs 145 crore in 2020. Compared to this, only Rs 27.35 crore was recovered in 2024, amounting to just 3% of the defrauded sum.
Among the states, Telangana performed the best, registering FIRs for 17% of complaints, followed by Meghalaya (8%), Assam (2.7%), and Tamil Nadu (2.2%). As for Delhi, while it received nearly 2.2 lakh complaints, only 1.2% were converted into FIRs. Experts attribute the low FIR rate to staff shortages, lack of technical expertise, and police reluctance to file cases. Cyber lawyer Dr Prashant Mali criticized the police’s habitual avoidance of filing FIRs, often advising victims to stick to helpline complaints. “Police reforms are the need of the hour. Performance evaluations should be done based on the number of FIRs filed, cases solved and convictions achieved,” he said, calling for specialized cyber courts with tech-trained judges and prosecutors in every district. Attributing the low FIR conversion rate to jurisdictional issues, lack of technical evidence, and resource constraints, cyber expert Ritesh Bhatia said, “This leads law enforcement to prioritize high-value cases.”
Former IPS officer YP Singh highlighted the police’s focus on conventional crimes, leaving underqualified staff to handle complex cyber cases. “There’s an urgent need for a well-funded and specialized cybercrime unit,” he said. Echoing such suggestions, former Mumbai police commissioner D Sivanandhan stressed the importance of hiring more qualified tech professionals to keep up with cyber threats.