Register a crypto exchange complaint in India: legal steps

By Advocate Panchanand Shaw, Bar Council of West Bengal · Published 4 Nov 2026 · Cyber law

To register a crypto exchange complaint in India, put the demand in writing to the exchange's grievance officer, report the loss at cybercrime.gov.in and on helpline 1930, and, where deception is involved, file a police complaint for cheating, criminal breach of trust or identity theft. Blockchain assets are not legal tender, so recovery turns on speed, records and whether the exchange is Indian and traceable.

A complaint against a crypto exchange in India follows a different path from an ordinary bank fraud, because the money does not sit in an Indian bank account that a bank can freeze on request. When a withdrawal is blocked, a deposit disappears, an account is frozen without explanation, or coins are stolen after a SIM swap, the effective response runs on several tracks together: a written complaint to the exchange and its grievance officer, a parallel complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and on the helpline 1930, and, where a crime is disclosed, a police complaint for cheating, criminal breach of trust or identity theft. The provisions that usually apply are section 66, section 66C and section 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000, together with the cheating and criminal breach of trust offences in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.

Virtual digital assets add two complications that decide whether you recover anything. The first is jurisdiction: many exchanges operate from outside India, so Indian investigators may have to route requests through foreign companies and their own terms of service. The second is the nature of the asset itself, because virtual digital assets are not legal tender in India and the courts have been cautious about treating them as ordinary property. Where your dispute is contractual, for example a blocked withdrawal with no allegation of deception, it is often a consumer or civil matter. Where it involves deception, theft or forged records, it is criminal. Working out which of the two you have is the first real step.

What the law says

There is no separate statute called the cryptocurrency Act in India, and mere holding or trading of virtual digital assets is not by itself an offence. The law applies to the conduct around the asset, and that conduct has settled provisions.

Unauthorised access to your exchange account, wallet or linked email is an offence under section 66 of the IT Act, 2000.
Dishonest use of your credentials or identity feature, such as a password, API key or KYC identity, falls under section 66C of the IT Act, 2000.
Cheating by personation through a computer resource, which is how most fake trading platforms and fake exchange apps operate, is punishable under section 66D of the IT Act, 2000.
Cheating that induced you to deposit funds is punishable under section 318 of the BNS, 2023, and personation as a person under section 319.
Criminal breach of trust, under section 316 of the BNS, 2023, applies where funds or assets were entrusted to a person or entity that then misappropriated them.
Forgery of statements, KYC documents or trade records attracts sections 336, 338 and 340 of the BNS, 2023.
Threats or coercion used to make you pay more, or to stop you complaining, attract section 351 of the BNS, 2023.
The bank or payment leg is governed by the Reserve Bank of India directions on unauthorised electronic transactions, which set out a limited-liability framework and reporting timelines for customers who report promptly.
Misuse of your KYC data by an institution can be pursued under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Two practical points follow from this. First, an exchange operating in India is expected to follow customer identification and record-keeping norms, which is why it holds KYC records, IP logs and trade data that investigators can demand. Second, because virtual digital assets are not legal tender, a civil claim for recovery is framed as a claim for money or property, not as a claim on a bank balance. That distinction changes both the forum and the remedy.

Step-by-step: how to register a crypto exchange complaint

Stop the bleeding. Change your password, revoke any API keys and third-party app permissions, reset the linked email, and withdraw or move any remaining balance to a wallet you control. If you still hold the keys, do this before anything else.
Preserve the record. Export your full transaction history, order logs and deposit and withdrawal statements. Copy the transaction IDs, wallet addresses, timestamps and the chat trail with support. Where you expect court use, keep the original device intact so that a certificate under section 63 of the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 can later be given.
Complain to the exchange in writing. Address the exchange's grievance officer, not just its in-app chat. State the facts, the amount, the date and what you want. Insist on a written reply with a ticket or reference number. A phone call leaves no record.
Tell your bank or payment provider at once if money left a bank account, UPI handle or card to fund the exchange. Ask for the bank's nodal officer and confirm the complaint in writing. Under the RBI directions on unauthorised electronic transactions, prompt reporting is what limits your liability.
File on the national portal and call 1930. Lodge the complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and, if funds moved in the last few hours, call the national cyber crime helpline 1930 so that the transaction can be flagged quickly.
File a police complaint where an offence is disclosed. A written complaint at the jurisdictional police station should lead to registration under section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for cognizable offences such as cheating and identity theft, and the police can then seek records from the exchange.
Escalate if the complaint stalls. If no FIR is registered, apply to the Magistrate under section 175(3) of the BNSS, 2023 to direct an investigation. For a purely contractual dispute, take the consumer or civil route instead, and ask for an interim injunction where assets are at risk of disappearing.

The fiat leg: bank, UPI and card payments

Most crypto losses begin with an ordinary Indian payment. You transfer rupees from a bank account, a UPI handle or a debit card into an exchange, a wallet or a person. That first leg is where Indian law gives you the strongest immediate lever, because the transferring bank is within the reach of a complaint and a regulator. The Reserve Bank of India directions on unauthorised electronic transactions require a customer to notify the bank without delay, and the liability you bear depends on how quickly you report. Report within the window and the bank is expected to act; report weeks later and the bank can argue that the delay contributed to the loss.

A written complaint to the branch, copied to the bank's nodal officer, gives you a dated record. Ask the bank to trace the beneficiary, flag the account and attempt a recall. Where the bank itself fails to act on a properly reported unauthorised transaction, the banking ombudsman is the next step, and it costs you nothing to approach. The bank route rarely recovers crypto that has already been converted and moved, but it frequently identifies the receiving account, which is exactly the information the police need to build the criminal case.

Which forum can actually do what

Forum	What it can realistically do
Exchange grievance officer	Restore account access, refund or reverse an internal error, produce your records
Bank or payment provider and its nodal officer	Trace and attempt to reverse the fiat leg; handle an unauthorised-transaction claim
cybercrime.gov.in and helpline 1930	Create a national record and start fund-flow tracing where the money trail is fresh
Jurisdictional police station	Register an FIR under BNSS section 173 and obtain records from the exchange
Magistrate under BNSS section 175(3)	Direct an investigation when the police have not registered a case
Consumer forum or civil court	Order a refund or damages against an Indian entity and grant an injunction

What decides the outcome

The single biggest factor is time. Funds that are still held by the exchange when the complaint lands can often be frozen or reversed; funds already moved on-chain to an anonymous wallet are far harder to retrieve, and recovery depends on tracing through the exchanges where they are eventually cashed out. The second factor is where the exchange is based and how it is registered. An Indian-registered entity is reachable by an Indian court order; a foreign platform answers mainly to its own terms of service, and cooperation then depends on mutual legal assistance or its willingness to act on a police request.

The third factor is what kind of loss you suffered. A stolen balance from your own account is a straightforward criminal complaint, while a blocked withdrawal under a contract is a civil claim, and a deposit to a platform that never existed is a case of cheating by personation. Courts look closely at whether you kept your own credentials secure, whether you reported promptly, and whether the records you produce are complete and unaltered. An unbroken paper trail from deposit to complaint is what makes an exchange, a bank or a court act.

One further point shapes recovery. An exchange that holds your funds can be asked to freeze them; an exchange that has already released them cannot. If you act while the balance is still in the account, a written complaint can preserve it, and if you wait, the only trail left runs on-chain, where tracing must go through the exchanges used to cash out and requires foreign cooperation that Indian investigators cannot guarantee. Treat the first day as the window in which the balance can still be protected.

Common mistakes

Accepting a support chat reply as final and abandoning the complaint instead of escalating in writing.
Posting on social media for sympathy while missing the short reporting window on the bank leg.
Deleting the app, email account or chat before exporting the transaction history.
Paying a so-called recovery agent who asks for an upfront fee or your seed phrase. This is a second fraud, not a remedy.
Moving remaining funds in a panic before recording wallet addresses and transaction IDs.
Filing only a civil case when the facts actually disclose cheating, which can be pursued criminally at the same time.
Assuming that a complaint to the exchange is enough and never telling the bank, which closes the fiat trail before it can be traced.
Sending the exchange an emotional account of the loss instead of a dated chronology with amounts, transaction IDs and a specific demand.

A crypto complaint is a records problem first and a legal argument second. What you save in the first forty-eight hours decides most of what follows.

When to involve a lawyer

For a blocked withdrawal or a small failed transaction, the exchange's own grievance process and a well-drafted written complaint are usually enough. A lawyer becomes valuable when the amount is significant, when the exchange is unresponsive or claims the loss was your fault, when you need an application to the Magistrate because the police have not acted, or when the matter needs a simultaneous civil claim for recovery. Crypto disputes often turn on documents rather than argument, so early legal help is mostly about framing the complaint and preserving evidence correctly. If your concern is the wider cyber crime process, see cyber crime lawyer in Kolkata, and contact if you want the complaint reviewed before you file it. The cyber law practice page explains where these matters are ordinarily heard.

Report early, keep every record, and treat any offer of guaranteed recovery as a warning rather than help.

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Frequently asked questions

How do I register a crypto exchange complaint in India?

Put the demand in writing to the exchange's grievance officer and ask for a ticket number and a written reason. Report the loss at cybercrime.gov.in and on helpline 1930 if funds moved recently, tell your bank or payment provider where money left an Indian account, and file a police complaint under BNSS section 173 where cheating or identity theft is disclosed.

Can the police recover stolen cryptocurrency in India?

Recovery is possible but not assured, and it depends on speed. If the coins are still held by the exchange, they can often be frozen; if they were moved on-chain, police trace them through the exchanges where they are cashed out. Indian investigators can request records from exchanges, but a platform based abroad may cooperate only through its own process or mutual legal assistance.

Is cryptocurrency legal in India?

Holding and trading virtual digital assets is not by itself an offence in India, because no statute bans it outright. What the law regulates is conduct around the asset and the tax and reporting obligations that apply to it. Exchanges operating in India are expected to follow customer identification and record-keeping norms, which is why they hold the KYC data investigators may later seek.

What can I do if an exchange freezes my withdrawal?

Complain in writing to the exchange's grievance officer and demand a stated reason and a reference number. If the exchange is registered in India and has no lawful basis, the dispute is contractual and can go to a consumer forum or civil court, where an interim injunction may be sought. If funds were obtained by deception, file a police complaint as well.

Does the 1930 helpline work for crypto fraud?

Yes. Helpline 1930 and the cybercrime.gov.in portal accept complaints where money was lost through a computer resource, including where funds were converted into virtual digital assets. Calling early matters most when the fiat leg is still fresh, because the bank trail is what can be traced and flagged. The portal complaint also creates a national record you can follow up on.

What documents do I need for a crypto fraud complaint?

Keep your exported transaction and order history, the deposit and withdrawal statements, wallet addresses, transaction IDs with timestamps, the chat with exchange support, your KYC correspondence, and proof of the bank or payment transfers that funded the account. Preserve the original device. For court use, a certificate under section 63 of the BSA, 2023 makes the electronic records admissible.

Can my bank reverse a payment I made to a crypto exchange?

Sometimes, and only if you report promptly. The Reserve Bank of India directions on unauthorised electronic transactions set a limited-liability framework that depends on how quickly the customer reports. Where you authorised the transfer yourself, the bank is unlikely to reverse it and the claim lies against the exchange or the fraudster, not the bank. Report to the nodal officer in writing regardless.

Can I sue a crypto exchange in an Indian court?

Yes, if the exchange is an Indian entity or has a presence that India can reach. A civil suit can seek recovery of the amount, damages or an injunction, and a consumer forum can hear a deficiency-of-service claim. Because virtual digital assets are not legal tender, the claim is framed as one for money or property, and the forum turns on the exchange's location.

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.

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