It’s serious if this is their quality : Supreme Court for digital fraud.

In a harsh criticism of banks’ handling of “digital arrest” fraud cases, the Supreme Court on Friday questioned their professionalism and questioned why suspicious transactions are not being reported in a timely manner, even when vulnerable customers lose their whole life savings.

As the Center provided status reports filed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on actions being taken to combat such scams, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Suryakant took up the case. The Attorney General informed the court that standard operating procedures (SOPs) and case data are being compiled.

The bench also asked why transactions cannot be suspended and alerts sent to customers and cybercrime police stations when suspicious activity is detected.

The Attorney General informed the court that deliberations are ongoing to finalise SOPs to handle digital arrest cases and that efforts are being made to expedite the process. Two status reports have been submitted by MHA and MeitY, while RBI has drafted an SOP prescribing actions by banks on complaints.

In order to promote inter-agency cooperation and recover stolen monies, the court ordered MHA to formally adopt and implement the SOP developed on January 2, 2026. It also said High Courts should ensure compliance with the SOP to avoid multiplicity of proceedings.

Amicus curiae emphasized to the court the importance of departmental collaboration and the necessity of set deadlines. The only finalized SOP to far, he noted, was created by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) in response to instructions from the Chhattisgarh High Court, and it is still at the basic stage.Despite public reports that more than Rs 54,000 crore of victims’ money has been embezzled overseas, the Supreme Court questioned why the RBI has not made tougher policy judgments.