JOIN USInsure cybercrime victims, parliamentary panel suggests
The government should make arrangements to provide insurance coverage to cybercrime victims, said a parliamentary standing committee against the backdrop of more people shifting to non-cash payment modes and a subsequent rise in digital frauds.
“The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology should enhance its cooperation with the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Finance and devise mechanisms to make the digital payment ecosystem more safe, secure and trustworthy for citizens,” the Standing Committee on Electronics and Information and Technology headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said in its report.
Expressing concern over the absence of a unified approach in dealing with cases pertaining to digital payments, including cybersecurity and grievance redressal, the committee recommended a centralised nodal agency/helpline. This will help victims of payment-related cybercrimes and also in the faster resolution of such cases.
India witnessed a steady increase in digital transactions over the last few years. The total transaction volume rose from 2,071 crore in FY 2017-18 to 4,572 crore in FY 2019-20. As of mid-February 2021, about 4,306 crore digital payment transactions took place, said the report.
Digital payments are expected to grow manifold by 2025 due to the growing fintech ecosystem, Covid-led changes in consumer behaviour and government policies around financial inclusion. The committee also recommended that apart from promoting digital payments, the enhanced allocation be utilised effectively for developing robust security mechanisms.
According to the IT Ministry, 2.9 lakh cybersecurity incidents related to digital banking were reported in 2020 alone. As per information reported to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In), 2018 saw 1,59,761 incidents while 2019 witnessed 2,46,514 cases. They included phishing, hacking, network scanning and probing, and viruses.