Karnataka Police introduce e-FIR system for theft or loss of vehicles

The Karnataka Police have introduced a full-fledged electronic first information report (FIR) filing system for vehicle thefts through linkages to the Vahaan database for vehicle registrations and the Aadhaar system for electronic signatures.

The e-FIR system for vehicle registration is the first category of FIRs where citizens will not have to visit a police station at all to report a crime, senior Karnataka police officials said.

Although the e-filing of police complaints has been facilitated in many cities, especially for cybercrimes, so far such complaints still require a formal signature from the complainant. “This is probably the first instance of FIRs becoming completely electronic in the country. In all other instances, complainants are still required to physically sign an FIR copy for the case to be considered as registered,” a senior Karnataka police official said.

“Vehicle Stolen? Finding it difficult to lodge FIR? Do it online. We aim to do away with avoidable footfalls to the police stations. However, making false and mischievous complaints is a punishable offense,” Karnataka director general of police Praveen Sood said this week on social media regarding the “citizen-centric initiative” of the state police.

The e-FIR filing system for loss or theft of vehicles has been Beta-tested over several months by the police department ahead of the launch. The online system has been launched for vehicle loss or



thefts on the basis of the existence of a national database for vehicle registrations and the Aadhaar verification system which facilitates a certain amount of verifiability to the registration of electronic FIRs, ADGP (police modernisation) Umesh Kumar said.

The e-FIR system for loss of vehicles requires complainants to log into the citizen-centric services portal of the Karnataka Police to enter the registration number of the lost/stolen vehicle in the e-FIR section.

Vehicle details are automatically pulled from the Vahaan database when the registration is provided and additional details like place and date of occurrence have to be given by the complainant. The e-FIR is verified and signed electronically through an Aadhaar-based OTP verification provided by the complainant.

The Karnataka Police are of the view that the e-FIR system is a fairly foolproof method of helping citizens register cases. Copies of FIRs are incidentally necessary for citizens to claim insurance in case of loss/theft of vehicles, but the police have warned of strict action against fraud and mischievous complaints.

The e-FIR system also synchronises with the existing FIR database of the police station where the case of theft or loss of a vehicle is to be registered and generates a sequential FIR number. “The police station cannot reject the e-FIR because a sequential FIR number is generated with time and date stamps,” a police official said.