Supreme Court asks RBI to prepare SOP

New Delhi, Aug 05, 2026 : The Supreme Court has directed the Reserve Bank of India to prepare and circulate a standard operating procedure (SOP) for dealing with mule accounts and bank accounts linked to cyber fraud. The court also issued a series of directions to states, Union Territories, law enforcement agencies and banks to strengthen grievance redressal, speed up the restoration of defrauded money and improve the handling of digital fraud cases.

The apex court asked the RBI to provide copies of the SOP to the Registrars General of all high courts and directed states, Union Territories and law enforcement agencies to ensure the expeditious adoption and operationalisation of grievance redressal and money restoration modules. The court also directed states and Union Territories to operationalise the grievance redressal and money restoration modules and take steps to create public awareness about them. It asked the Registrars General of all high courts to apprise subordinate courts of the availability of the modules.

The court sought a state-wise and bank-wise report on grievances registered and resolved, directed authorities to expedite cases involving frozen bank accounts, and asked the Inter-Departmental Committee to consult banks and intermediaries on preventing digital arrest scams and recovering defrauded money.

In another decision, Supreme Court directed the central government to develop a pilot project linking fuel sales to valid third-party motor insurance, proposing that uninsured vehicles be denied fuel at petrol pumps until coverage is obtained. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra said nearly 56 percent of vehicles on Indian roads are uninsured and called the situation shocking.

The court directed the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and the Centre to pilot Automatic Number Plate Recognition, ANPR-based insurance verification to identify uninsured vehicles and improve compliance with the Motor Vehicles Act.