Relief For Cyber Scam Victims: MHA Launches Online Money Restoration Module To Recover Frozen Funds

Mumbai: In a move intended to give relief to the cybercrime victims, the Ministry of Home Affairs has recently launched the Money Restoration Module (MRM) under the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) to enable cyber fraud victims to apply online for the restoration of frozen funds without visiting multiple offices.

The information shared by the central government stated that the portal (MRM) is strictly for victims who registered their complaint immediately via the 1930 Helpline or the NCRP portal and possess a 14-digit Registered Acknowledgement Number and this module applies only to those cases where the defrauded money has been successfully held/frozen in the scammer's beneficiary bank account. The portal cannot process refunds if the criminals have already withdrawn or siphoned off the cash from the bank accounts.

As per the government, the categories stated to seek refund are, "If the held amount is up to Rs50,000 in one bank account, no FIR or court order is required. The money will be refunded directly based on the Police Report/Indemnity Bond via the MRM portal. If the total frozen amount is more than Rs50,000 but distributed across different bank accounts and does not exceed Rs50,000 in any single bank account, no FIR or court order is required. A swift refund will be processed based on the police report. If the held amount exceeds Rs50,000 in a single bank account, lodging an FIR is mandatory under the rules. Once the FIR is registered, the entire remaining legal refund process will be completed through this MRM portal."

The citizens need to visit the portal https://mrm-ncrp.mha.gov.in and login using the mobile number linked to the original NCRP complaint, select "Raise Refund Request", enter Complaint ID, and verify through OTP. The user then needs to upload a PAN Card and provide bank account details for refund and submit the application and note the generated Request ID for tracking. After the victim submits the request, the designated police team will upload the required Indemnity Bond/Notice on the portal as per the legal provisions of section 106(3) BNSS. Following this, the concerned bank will restore the funds directly to the victim's bank account, the officials stated.