BENGALURU: If you have lost your vehicle anywhere in Karnataka, you now don’t have to run from one police station to the other to register your complaint. You can just log into the Karnataka police website www.ksp.karnataka.gov.in and register a complaint regarding the theft online, and get the FIR soon after.
“One of the major complaints from the public is regarding registration of FIRs when they lose their motor vehicles. Jurisdiction (of the place of theft) is a major issue. Filing an FIR is a time-consuming process and we understand the agony of the person who has lost his/her vehicle and is made to run from pillar to post. FIR is mandatory to claim vehicle insurance,” said DG&IGP, Praveen Sood.
Since 99% of complaints about MV thefts are genuine, police have made registration of FIRs online a pilot project. “One has to log into the Karnataka police website and follow the steps. Online registration of a complaint must mandatorily follow the complainant’s digital signature, using Aadhaar authentication,” said the top cop.
The digital platform will throw up the name of the jurisdictional police station after the complainant gives the location of the theft in his complaint. Similarly, the details of the lost vehicle will also be authenticated from its registration number, with the integration of Vahan, a Central government registry of motor vehicles.
The service was launched last week, and since then, police have received around 600 online complaints on MV thefts in Karnataka. The digital service has been integrated into the Crime & Criminal Tracking Network & Systems model of the police.
“As the next step, we propose to add an ‘undetected’ or closure (‘C’) report, which will be made available online to people whose vehicles have not been detected, on the 91st day from the date of registration of the FIR,” said Sood.
Under the CrPC, police are given 90 days to investigate and charge sheet a case from the date of registration of the FIR. For the theft victim, the ‘undetected’ or ‘C’ report is a must to claim insurance.
There are around 6,000 to 7,000 MV theft cases registered in Karnataka annually. The online FIR service has been introduced to reduce the burden on the victims of theft.