New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said laxity by banks resulting in siphoning of money from people’s accounts due to cyber fraud, including digital arrests, counts as deficiency of service and emphasised that govt and regulators must devise a mechanism to ensure that an alarm goes off when scammers attempt to con account holders, reports Dhananjay Mahapatra .Referring to an earlier disclosure by one of the probe agencies that people have so far been conned to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore through digital arrests and cyber heists, a bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said, “The staggering amount taken from people through digital arrest and cyber fraud is shocking. The banking system must have a mechanism to detect these laxities immediately when scamsters attempt to exploit it and raise a countrywide alarm.”This story continues on page 24 in the newspaper. For your reading convenience we have added it below.Stop over-the-counter sale of SIM boxes: SC to authoritiesAttorney general R Venkataramani said, “There are obviously some gaps because of which such scams are taking place. We are putting our heads together to attempt plugging these loopholes.” He said various proposals are under consideration of an inter-departmental ministerial committee to create a robust mechanism to prevent cybercrimes like digital arrest.Amicus curiae and senior advocate N S Nappinai told the court that similar cyber crimes are prevalent in the United Kingdom but more than 90% of the money is recovered and restored to the persons who were cheated. She said the govt and probe agencies must focus on the recovery of the siphoned amount and restore it to the cheated account holders.SC Advocates-on-Record Association president Vipin Nair said SIM boxes, each containing 400 SIMs, continue to be sold over the counter enabling scamsters to use different numbers from the same device to con people. This should be stopped immediately, he pleaded.The bench on Dec 1 had flagged the rampant breach of norms in issuance of SIM cards and said, “Facts brought on record so far reveal an alarming negligent and irresponsible approach of telecom service providers while issuing multiple SIM cards in one name. We direct the department of telecom (DoT) to submit a proposal for the consideration of SC, which may eventually be required to be implemented to prevent misuse of SIM cards.”Nair said despite the directions, no corrective or regulatory steps have been taken by the authorities. The CJI-led bench asked the authorities to immediately address the issue and take all measures to stop over-the-counter sale of SIM boxes. Venkataramani said the CBI, which was entrusted with the probe into digital arrest cases across the country, has made good progress. The bench asked the AG to place the probe status report in sealed cover. The bench said if the CBI needed additional directions for a seamless investigation into all cases, it could approach the court.
