The Supreme Court of India on Monday, 9 February, ordered the Reserve Bank of India, the Department of Telecom (DoT) and other authorities to hold a joint meeting to create a compensation framework for digital arrest fraud victims, reported PTI.
The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice NV Anjaria ordered the regulators to impose a standard operating procedure (SOP), calling the siphoning of over ₹54,000 crore by digital fraudsters an absolute “robbery or dacoity”.
“We direct Centre to formally adopt, implement RBI's SoP across India for inter-agency coordination in dealing with digital frauds,” the Supreme Court said, according to the news agency report.
The apex court, stressing the need for action by the RBI and the banking industry, said that such offences may be due to either collusion by bank officials or their negligence.
Who will make the new digital fraud SOP?
The Supreme Court of India ordered the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider the RBI made SOP dated 2 January 2026 and other SOPs or decisions of the Department of Telecom to come up with a draft MoU in the next four weeks to deal with such offences.
According to the agency report, the bench also noted that the RBI has created an SOP suggesting action that can be taken by the banks to temporarily hold debit cards to prevent digital fraud.
The court also ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to identify digital arrest fraud cases in the country, while also urging the Gujarat and Delhi state governments to accord sanction for probes into identified incidents.
The order is to file fresh status reports before the next date of hearing, as per the news report.
The Supreme Court bench also said that a pragmatic, liberal approach is needed to deal with the award of compensation to digital arrest victims.
Earlier, in December 2025, a Supreme Court bench asked the central government to review the suggestions put forward by the amicus curiae for ensuring compensation to victims of digital arrests, while voicing its concern over the enormous sums taken out from the country by cybercriminals.
The move comes amid the rising digital arrest frauds where scammers pose themselves as police officers, court officials or government personnel to intimidate victims through audio and video calls, holding them hostage and putting pressure on them to pay money.
