What is e-Zero FIR?

• Delhi has recorded the highest number of e-Zero FIRs among the 18 states and Union Territories that have implemented the system for cyber financial fraud cases, Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar said in a written response in Lok Sabha.

Process to file e-Zero FIR

• The central government has provided a platform to states and UTs to register e-Zero FIRs in cyber financial fraud cases. 

• Under this system, complaints involving a particular financial loss thresholds (as decided by respective state/UT) registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) or through helpline 1930, will automatically result in the registration of an e-Zero FIR at the state/UT e-Crime Police Station, which is then promptly transferred to the concerned territorial cyber crime police station. 

• The complainant is required to visit the respective police station within three days to convert the Zero FIR into a regular FIR. 

• The ‘Police’ and ‘Public Order’ are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. 

• Cyber financial fraud complaints reported on the NCRP, their conversion into FIRs and subsequent action, including filing of chargesheets, arrests and resolution of complaints, are handled by the concerned state and UT law enforcement agencies in accordance with the provisions of law. 

• Section 173(1) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 mandates that information relating to the commission of a cognisable offence, irrespective of where the offence is committed, may be given orally or through electronic communication to the officer in charge of a police station. 

• The e-Zero FIR system has been implemented in Delhi, Chandigarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Goa, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Assam, Odisha, Haryana, Gujarat, Tripura, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Bihar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. 

• Delhi has registered the highest number of e-Zero FIRs at 6,115 since implementing the system in May 2025, followed by Chandigarh with 4,174.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)