Police delay in UPI fraud cases: your remedies

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 3 Nov 2026 · Court process

If the police will not act on your UPI fraud complaint, the law gives you a fixed ladder of remedies: the police station under section 173 of the BNSS 2023, the Superintendent of Police, the Magistrate under section 175(3), and finally the High Court under Article 226. Delay is common, and it is almost always avoidable.

If the police will not act on your UPI fraud complaint, Indian law does not leave you without a remedy. There is a fixed ladder of escalation: the police station, then the Superintendent of Police, then the Magistrate, and finally the High Court. Each rung rests on a specific provision of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and each takes time that the money may not have.

The usual cause of delay is not malice. It is jurisdiction. The money left your account in Kolkata and landed in an account in another state, so the local station treats the case as somebody else's problem. That is not a lawful ground for refusing a cognizable complaint. UPI fraud combines cheating under the BNS, 2023 with offences under the IT Act, 2000, and those offences are cognizable.

Where the delay actually happens

Break the failure down before you escalate, because each stage has a different cure:

At registration. No FIR is written, or your complaint is entered only as a general diary entry, which is not an FIR.
At investigation. An FIR exists but nothing moves; the money trail through the beneficiary accounts is never followed.
At the money. Accounts are not frozen in the opening days, when the trail is still warm and recovery is still realistic.
At the suspect. The beneficiary is never traced, and no final report is ever filed either, leaving the case in limbo.

What the law says about each stage

Section 173 BNSS: registration is not discretionary

Where the information discloses a cognizable offence, the officer in charge of a police station must register an FIR. The information may be given orally or in writing, it must be reduced to writing, read over to you, and a copy must be given to you free of cost. Section 173 also permits a short preliminary enquiry in certain cases, but any such enquiry is time-bound and is not a licence to sit on the file indefinitely. If the offence you are reporting happened outside that station's area, the station must still register what is commonly called a zero FIR and forward it to the station with jurisdiction.

The Superintendent of Police route

Section 173 provides that where the officer in charge refuses to register an FIR, the aggrieved person may send the substance of the information in writing to the Superintendent of Police concerned. The Superintendent may then investigate the case himself or direct a subordinate officer to do so. In a city commissionerate the equivalent senior officer is the Deputy Commissioner of Police. This step is cheap, fast and documented, and it is the step most complainants skip.

Section 175(3) BNSS: asking the Magistrate to order an investigation

If the police still do nothing, section 175(3) of the BNSS allows a Magistrate to order an investigation. You file an application setting out the facts, the complaint already made, and the refusal or silence of the police, and ask the Magistrate to direct an investigation. Courts treat this as a serious remedy, not an automatic one, so a complete chronology of your complaints matters. The application should attach the receipted copy of the original complaint and every escalation.

Article 226: the writ remedy

Article 226 of the Constitution lets you move the High Court for a writ of mandamus compelling the police to perform their statutory duty and register the FIR. This is the strongest remedy and the slowest. It is usually brought where the refusal is clear and documented, or where the inaction is systemic. For a victim in West Bengal, that means the Calcutta High Court. A writ is also the standard route where the police register the FIR but then close the case without a lawful reason.

Section 528 BNSS: inherent powers

Section 528 of the BNSS preserves the inherent powers of the High Court to pass orders needed to secure the ends of justice. It is invoked where no specific provision fits, typically to seek directions on the pace of an investigation that has stalled. The High Court does not ordinarily direct how an investigation is conducted, but it can require the investigating officer to act.

The remedy ladder, in order

Write to the officer in charge and take a receipted copy. Keep the diary number if the station insists on entering only a general diary entry.
Escalate to the Superintendent of Police or Deputy Commissioner with the substance of the information in writing.
Report again on cybercrime.gov.in and on 1930. Keep the acknowledgement reference; the portal creates its own trail independent of the local station.
Complain to your bank's nodal officer. The freeze does not depend on the FIR being registered, and speed here saves money.
Apply under section 175(3) BNSS before the Magistrate if the police still do nothing.
Move the High Court under Article 226 for a mandamus to register the FIR or to move the investigation forward.

Which forum for which problem

The problem	Where you go	Legal basis
FIR not registered	Superintendent of Police, then Magistrate	BNSS 173 and 175(3)
FIR registered but no investigation	Supervising officer, then Magistrate, then High Court	BNSS 175(3) and 528
Blanket refusal by the station	Calcutta High Court	Article 226
Funds not frozen	Bank nodal officer and 1930	RBI directions on unauthorised transactions
Case closed without trial	Magistrate, by way of protest	BNSS provisions on final reports

What decides the outcome

The paper trail. A single written complaint with a receipt is worth more than ten verbal visits. Courts ask what you did, in writing, and when.
How early you escalate. Escalation after two months looks like acquiescence and weakens the urgency argument.
How specific the complaint is. A complaint that names the transaction reference, the amount, the date and the beneficiary details gives the police something to act on.
Whether the offence is clearly cognizable. Sections 318 and 319 of the BNS and section 66D of the IT Act are cognizable, which removes the excuse of "we can only take a complaint".
Whether the money is still traceable. Every day that passes reduces what any forum can recover for you, which is why the bank and portal steps run in parallel with the police steps.

What you should not do

Do not accept a general diary entry as a substitute for an FIR without saying so on the record.
Do not leave the police station without a copy of whatever was written.
Do not wait for the police to act before notifying the bank; the two tracks are independent.
Do not send your only copy of the evidence anywhere; keep originals and send copies.
Do not pay anyone who promises to "get the money back" from the fraudster for a fee.

Why the freeze is the real deadline

Escalation remedies are slow, and the money does not wait. The 1930 helpline and the cybercrime.gov.in portal exist precisely because a bank can act on a reported fraud within hours, while a court order takes months. Every rung of the remedy ladder should therefore be run alongside the freeze request, not instead of it. Where the money is still sitting in the first beneficiary account, a prompt report can recover it; where it has already been layered through mule accounts, no forum can undo the loss.

This is why a complaint refused at the counter is not merely an insult. It is a lost opportunity. Make the online report the same day you first approach the station, keep the acknowledgement reference, and quote that reference in every letter you later write to the police.

Tracking the file once an FIR exists

An FIR number is not the end of your involvement. Ask for the name of the investigating officer and the case number, and write to that officer periodically asking for the status. Where the investigation needs bank records, the officer has to seek them; where the beneficiary sits in another state, the file is transferred or a request is routed through the cyber crime machinery. Keep a dated log of every visit, call and letter, because a log is what persuades a Magistrate that the police have sat on a case.

If the investigation ends in a closure report rather than a charge sheet, you will usually be given notice to appear before the Magistrate. That notice is not a formality. Say nothing and the closure is likely to be accepted; object and you may file a protest setting out the evidence that was never examined. Protesting a closure costs little and preserves the case.

Documents that make the police move

What persuades a station is not volume but relevance. Carry the following, and make sure each finds its way into the file:

The bank statement extract showing the debit, with the beneficiary details.
The complaint acknowledgement from your bank and the reference from your 1930 report.
The short narration you wrote on the day of the fraud, with the times.
The receipted copy of every police complaint you have already made.
Any reply you have received from a senior officer, including refusals.

How long the remedies take

Be realistic about pace. A written complaint at the station is acted on within days, or not at all. Escalation to the Superintendent of Police usually moves the file within weeks. An application under section 175(3) of the BNSS is decided by the Magistrate after hearing the police, which takes time. A writ petition in the High Court is the slowest of all and is heard on its own listing. None of these timelines is guaranteed, and no lawyer should promise you a date.

The victim's place in the criminal process

A UPI fraud case is prosecuted in the name of the state, not in your name. That does not leave you voiceless. You are entitled to notice at key stages, to be heard on the question of compensation, and to file your protest if the case is closed. Where a charge sheet is filed, the trial court can in appropriate cases order the offender to pay compensation, and a separate civil claim for the amount remains open to you. The criminal case punishes; it does not always repay. Know which of the two you actually need before spending a year chasing the other.

When to involve a lawyer

A lawyer earns his keep at the point of a documented refusal. The application under section 175(3) BNSS and the writ petition under Article 226 both turn on how the record has been built, and a badly drafted application can delay you by months. For a victim in West Bengal, the practical sequence is set out on our page for cyber crime matters in West Bengal. Where the police register a case and then seek to close it, the defence-side knowledge of how investigations are actually built helps, and our criminal defence work covers how final reports and investigations are handled. You can contact the chamber with the chronology and the receipts if you want the application drafted.

Need help with a cyber crime matter?

Tell me what happened and I will tell you what to file, where, and by when. First conversation is free.

Call +91-9007000603 WhatsApp

Frequently asked questions

Can police refuse to register an FIR in a UPI fraud case?

No. Where the information discloses a cognizable offence, section 173 of the BNSS, 2023 requires the officer in charge to register an FIR. UPI fraud involves cheating under the BNS, 2023 and offences under the IT Act, 2000, which are cognizable. The only permitted latitude is a short, time-bound preliminary enquiry in limited cases.

What can I do if the police station takes only a general diary entry?

Insist in writing that the information discloses a cognizable offence and ask for an FIR. If the station still refuses, send the substance of the information in writing to the Superintendent of Police under section 173 of the BNSS, 2023. Keep the receipted copy of everything, because the paper trail is what the next forum will examine.

What is section 175(3) of the BNSS used for in a fraud case?

Section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023 allows a Magistrate to order an investigation. A UPI fraud victim whose complaint has been ignored can apply to the Magistrate with the chronology of complaints and the refusal, asking for a direction to investigate. It is a serious remedy, so the application should be complete and documented.

How long should I wait before approaching the High Court?

There is no fixed waiting period, but courts expect the lower remedies to have been tried first. Give the station a written complaint, then escalate to the Superintendent of Police, and if that produces nothing, move under section 175(3) of the BNSS or under Article 226 of the Constitution. Escalating within weeks strengthens the case.

Does a zero FIR help in a UPI fraud case?

Yes. If the offence occurred outside the area of the police station you approach, section 173 of the BNSS, 2023 requires the station to register the information and forward it to the station with jurisdiction. This is the zero FIR route, and it prevents a station from turning you away on the ground that the beneficiary account is in another state.

Can the bank freeze the money before the FIR is registered?

Yes, and it should be your first priority. Reporting on the 1930 helpline or on cybercrime.gov.in creates a record that banks act on to place a hold on funds traceable to the fraud, and the complaint to your bank's nodal officer under the RBI directions runs in parallel. Freezing a live account recovers more than any later court order.

What if the police close my UPI fraud case without a trial?

A closure or final report is not the end of the matter. You can file a protest before the Magistrate against the closure, pointing to the material the police failed to investigate, and you can also seek a direction under section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023. Where the closure is plainly unlawful, the High Court's writ jurisdiction under Article 226 is available.

Is there a time limit for complaining about police delay?

No specific limitation period applies to a complaint about police inaction, but delay is itself the harm. The money trail cools, accounts are emptied and witnesses become unavailable. Practically, escalate within days of a refusal, and do not let a stalled complaint sit for months before you approach a senior officer or a court.

Information for general guidance only and not legal advice. Provisions cited follow the Information Technology Act 2000, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023 and the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023.

Cyber crime lawyer in your city · Bank account freeze help · Contact