Giriraj Singh backs PM Modi's call for e-Zero FIR in all states
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Union Textiles Minister Giriraj Singh on Thursday, 25 June 2026 amplified a directive attributed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling for the rollout of e-Zero FIR registration across all Indian states to accelerate investigations into cyber fraud cases.
Context
Giriraj Singh shared a report quoting the Prime Minister as saying, 'साइबर अपराध की जांच में तेजी लाने के लिए सभी राज्यों में ई-जीरो FIR शुरू करें' — translated: 'Roll out e-Zero FIRs in all states to speed up cyber crime investigations.' The post was shared via the NaMo App, a platform used by BJP leaders to amplify centrally curated governance messaging.
An e-Zero FIR is an electronic mechanism that allows a complainant to register a First Information Report at any police station — or online — regardless of jurisdiction, bypassing the procedural delays that typically arise in cross-state cyber crime cases. The proposal builds on Zero FIR provisions that were reinforced through police modernisation guidelines issued between 2014 and 2016.
Policy Backdrop
The push for e-Zero FIRs sits within a broader architecture that the Ministry of Home Affairs has been constructing for nearly a decade. The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal was launched in 2019, enabling citizens to file cyber complaints online. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), established in 2018, was later tasked with coordinating multi-state investigations and standardising data exchange between state police forces.
The 2020 I4C framework placed particular emphasis on inter-state cooperation for financial fraud cases — a category that has grown sharply alongside the mass adoption of digital payments in India. Introducing an e-Zero FIR mechanism would extend this architecture to the first point of contact between a victim and the justice system.
Stakeholders and Impact
State police forces would bear the primary implementation burden, requiring integration of their station-level software with a centralised filing system. Home Departments in each state would need to issue enabling orders before the mechanism can go live.
For cyber crime victims — particularly those defrauded through UPI, online banking, or social-media scams — the change would remove the current obstacle of approaching the 'correct' jurisdictional police station, which often delays complaint registration by days or weeks. Faster FIR registration also triggers quicker freezing of fraudulent accounts, limiting financial losses.
What's Next
The key indicator to watch is whether state Home Departments issue formal adoption orders and whether the directive features on the agenda of the next conference of Directors General of Police (DGPs) or Chief Secretaries. Central directives on policing carry persuasive but not mandatory force over state governments, making political will at the state level the decisive variable.
If adopted uniformly, e-Zero FIR could mark a significant procedural shift in how India's fragmented, state-administered police system handles the fast-growing category of cyber and financial fraud crimes — a test case for cooperative federalism in digital governance.