Supreme Court asks WhatsApp and other platforms to propose steps against "digital arrest" scams

The Supreme Court has asked WhatsApp and other intermediaries to tell it what measures they propose to prevent "digital arrest" scams and related cybercrime, according to an order from a 29 October hearing that was reported on 10 November (LiveLaw, India Today). This piece is as of the evening of 10 November.

What the order says

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana is hearing the case, which the court began on its own motion under the title "In Re: Victims of Digital Arrest Related to Forged Documents" (LiveLaw). The order directs WhatsApp, a Meta company, and other concerned intermediaries to apprise the court of the measures they propose, and to submit their proposals to the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre at the same time (India Today, citing PTI). The plea is listed for further consideration on 23 November, per Telangana Today.

At the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, said the platform had taken preventive measures including action against 9,400 accounts, would file an affidavit on the steps taken, and was working on software to identify suspicious accounts and warn users (Daily Excelsior). LiveLaw says a Union government status report recorded that WhatsApp reportedly banned 9,400 accounts linked to these scams and to impersonation of law enforcement agencies after an investigation.

Banks and the RBI

On 29 October the court said financial institutions must be held accountable for digital arrest scams and other cyber fraud, and that banks should compensate victims where an investigation finds the fraud occurred because the institution failed to exercise due diligence (Telangana Today). The bench said the RBI's proposed rules must require institutions to "pay suitable compensation not less than the amount lost by the customer" in such cases (Daily Excelsior).

LiveLaw lists directions the bench gave in August: the RBI was asked to adopt a standard operating procedure for banks on placing temporary debit holds on accounts linked to cyber-enabled financial fraud, with a grievance redressal mechanism and a money restoration module; states and Union Territories were told to operationalise state cyber crime coordination centres; and an inter-departmental committee was asked to examine a shared liability and victim compensation framework.