NEW DELHI: A multi-pronged action involving telecom regulators, service providers, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), tech giants and the Central Bank of India (CBI) has been taken to address the growing threat of digital arrest scams, along with WhatsApp blocking 9,400 accounts involved in such crimes, the Center told the Supreme Court.
The measure has been detailed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Center under the Ministry of Home Affairs which has submitted a comprehensive situation report pursuant to the Supreme Court’s February 9 directions to curb rising cases of digital arrests in the country, according to sources.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, which took suo motu cognizance of online scams, including digital arrests, issued a slew of directions including asking the Reserve Bank of India, the Ministry of Telecom, and others to hold a joint meeting to come up with a framework for offering compensation in digital arrest cases.
The new case report, filed by Attorney General R Venkataramani, details the enforcement actions taken by tech giant WhatsApp in the past 12 weeks since January this year.
“In direct response to the concerns raised by I4C, MEITY and DoT, WhatsApp in January 2026 launched a structured, ad-hoc, multi-week investigation specifically focused on digital arrests targeting Indian users. This investigation followed a rigorous methodology: identifying the initial signals that mapping networks apply to the entire network, and building tiered automated defences,” it said, adding that 9,400 accounts were banned for alleged involvement in digital arrests.
To further protect users, WhatsApp is deploying several “enforcement innovations,” including logo detection where systems identify and remove accounts using official police or government badges in display images, the case report said.
WhatsApp is considering introducing a new feature to warn users when they receive a call from a “newly created” or “unregistered” account, a common feature of fraud profiles, the status report said, adding that the process of automatically hiding profile pictures of unknown suspicious callers to prevent scammers from using visual signals of authority will also be introduced.
She said the DoT and telecom service providers have committed to a strict new timeline to neutralize fraudulent SIM cards, including the fact that the committee is working on a mechanism to block suspicious SIM cards within 2 to 3 hours of identification.
The report said that the Central Bank of Iraq had established a $Loss limit of Rs 10 crore for taking up digital arrest investigations.
Currently, the CBI has re-registered three major cases, including two from Gujarat involving massive financial frauds and a high-profile case in Delhi where one victim was defrauded. $22.92 crores, she said.
The report said that a high-level inter-departmental committee headed by senior officials held its third meeting on March 12, bringing together stakeholders, including telecom operators, financial regulators and digital platforms.
One of the key central proposals is to roll out a biometric identity verification system to enable real-time monitoring of SIM card issuance across networks, she said.
She added that the Department of Transport has been tasked with implementing this system by December 2026.
The report said that WhatsApp adhered to several safeguards, including implementing SIM linking mechanisms within four to six months.
SIM linking is a security authorization that requires an active KYC verified SIM card to be physically present and active in the phone for the app to work. If the SIM card is removed, swapped, or inactive, the app will stop working.
According to the report, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has finalized standard operating procedures directing banks to place temporary restrictions on suspicious transactions to curb money smuggling activities.
Urging the apex court to record the report, the Ministry of Health sought to issue appropriate directions to the DoT to implement the measures prescribed by the inter-departmental committee by requiring due compliance on the part of telecom service providers and enlisting their cooperation in order to expedite notification and implementation of the “Telecommunication Rules and Biometric Identity Verification System for Clarity of SIM Card Issuance at the National Level”.
It also sought direction to develop a mechanism for speedy blocking of suspicious or fraudulent SIM cards used in cybercrime cases, including digital arrests.
“We advise MeitY to secure WhatsApp compliance, to ensure timely implementation of the guarantees and commitments made before the Inter17 Administrative Committee, including the implementation of the SIM linking mechanism in accordance with the DoT Circular…”
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