HM Shah reviews functioning of national cybercrime helpline, asks to revamp system to improve efficiency

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday reviewed the functioning of the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 and instructed the revamp of the system aimed at improving the efficiency and user experience.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday reviewed the functioning of the National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 and instructed the revamp of the system aimed at improving the efficiency and user experience. In the meeting, Shah stressed the need to make the helpline more accessible and responsive to the citizens facing cyber fraud and related crimes across India.

Emphasing the importance of leveraging technology, the Home Minister directed officials to integrate artificial intelligence tools into the system to enhance its capability in handling complaints and tracking cases more effectively. Shah also underlined the need for "multilingual support" on the helpline, noting that language barriers often prevent victims from promptly reporting cybercrimes. By incorporating regional languages, the Central government aims to ensure that people across the country can easily access the service and report incidents without difficulty.

The Home Minister further instructed the agencies concerned to work in close coordination with state governments to ensure that every complaint received through the helpline is pursued to its logical conclusion. He also highlighted that timely action and proper follow-up are critical in tackling cybercrime, which has been witnessing a steady rise in recent years.

Additionally, Shah raised concerns over grievances related to the freezing of bank accounts during cybercrime investigations and directed the officials to ensure that such issues are addressed in a time-bound manner to minimise inconvenience to citizens while maintaining the integrity of investigative processes. The National Cybercrime Helpline 1930 plays a crucial role in providing immediate assistance to victims of financial fraud, enabling quick reporting and facilitating swift action by law enforcement agencies.

Officials said the proposed revamp is expected to strengthen the country's cybercrime response framework and improve public trust in the system. The move comes more than three months after Shah also launched the State Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (S4C) dashboard of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs.

From January 2020 to November 30, 2025, official data shows that the I4C reporting portal has been accessed over 230 million times. As of November 30, 2025, the data collated by the MHA mentions that more than 8.2 million cybercrime-related complaints had been registered on the portal, of which 1,84,000 were converted into FIRs, and a large number of complaints were effectively resolved.

By December 31, 2025, around 62 banks and financial institutions had joined this mechanism. The MHA has also set a clear target to onboard all banking and financial institutions, including cooperative banks, fully into the system before December 2026. Through 3,61,000 cyber fraud complaints, the Central government has successfully safeguarded Rs 8,189 crore. As per an estimate, the total amount of fraud was around Rs 20,000 crore, out of which the Central government has frozen or returned Rs 8,189 crore to the victims.

By December 2025, the MHA had cancelled more than 12 lakh suspicious SIM cards and blocked the IMEI numbers of over 3 lakh mobile devices. By February 2026, 20,853 accused persons were arrested in cybercrime cases. Officials in the MHA said helpline 1930 has proved to be an effective tool in saving victims of cyber fraud. (ANI)