SC calls digital frauds ‘Robbery,’ seeks SOP to tackle Rs 54,000 crore losses

The Supreme Court on Monday described the siphoning of over Rs 54,000 crore through digital frauds as outright “robbery or dacoity” and asked the Centre to draft a standard operating procedure (SOP) in consultation with key stakeholders, including the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks, and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria noted that the amount lost in digital frauds surpasses the annual budgets of many small states. The court observed that such offences may occur due to either collusion by or negligence of bank officials and stressed the need for timely action by the RBI and banks.

Clarifying the losses , the Rs 54,000 crore figure refers to cumulative losses over multiple years. Government data presented in the court showed that more than Rs 52,000 crore was siphoned off through online/digital frauds between April 2021 and November 2025 .

The bench also highlighted the role of mule accounts , noting that cybercriminals often use them to transfer stolen funds in small, hard-to-trace amounts, sometimes involving unwitting individuals. Experts say tackling mule accounts is crucial to preventing such massive frauds.

The Supreme Court asked the Ministry of Home Affairs to examine the RBI’s existing SOP and similar measures from the DoT and come up with a draft memorandum of understanding (MoU) within four weeks to address such cases effectively. It also directed the CBI to identify digital arrest cases and instructed the Gujarat and Delhi governments to grant sanctions to the federal probe agency to proceed with investigations.

Highlighting victim protection, the bench called for a joint meeting between the RBI, DoT, and other authorities to develop a framework for compensation in digital arrest cases, emphasizing the need for a pragmatic and liberal approach. Fresh status reports are to be filed before the next hearing, scheduled in four weeks.

Digital arrest, a growing form of cybercrime, involves fraudsters impersonating law enforcement or government officials through audio or video calls to intimidate victims and extort money. On December 1, the top court had asked the CBI to conduct a pan-India probe into such cases and questioned the RBI on why artificial intelligence is not being used to trace and freeze accounts used by cyber criminals.