Vehicle theft? You can now file online FIR

Visit www.ksp.karnataka.gov.in to register a complaint

Bengaluru: You will no longer have to go to the Police Station to lodge a complaint of vehicle theft as you will be able to file FIR on the portal with mobile phone, tablet, PC or a laptop, which is convenient and easy.

It will help save citizens’ time and cut down personal visits. Instant documentation and lodging of complaints would also help initiate investigation without any delay. One 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.

Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG&IGP) Praveen Sood has announced the initiative but warned against false and mischievous complaints. “Registration of FIRs when vehicles are stolen is a tedious and time-consuming process and this is one of the major complaints from the public as they are put into a lot of inconvenience and also there are jurisdictional issues. The problem is compounded as the FIR is mandatory to claim vehicle insurance,” the DG&IGP said.

“We launched the initiative last week. Since 99 percent of complaints about vehicle thefts are genuine, we have made registration of FIRs online. It is a people-friendly initiative and saves time. People can avoid visiting a particular Police Station in the prescribed time, waiting for the designated Police officer to record the first information statement and above all, physical and mental agony can be avoided,” DG&IGP Praveen Sood added.

One has to log into the Karnataka Police website and follow the steps. Go to https://ksp.karnataka.gov.in and click on the Citizen-Centric Portal under the Citizens Desk on the left side of the website.

The online registration of a complaint must mandatorily follow the complainant’s digital signature, using Aadhaar authentication. The portal will indicate the name of the jurisdictional Police Station after the complainant gives the location of the theft in his complaint.

Integration to Vahan: Also, 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. Once the e-FIR is submitted, the user will receive a message on the screen that the complaint has been submitted to the Police Station concerned.

After receiving the complaint, the Police Station will register the FIR and submit it to the Court and the complainant will receive an SMS to e-sign the FIR on the portal and download the copy.

Under the Criminal Procedure Code, the Police are given 90 days to investigate and chargesheet a case from the date of registration of the FIR and for the theft victim, the ‘undetected’ or ‘C’ report is a must to claim insurance.

“We will add an ‘undetected’ or ‘C’ report option, which will be made available online to people whose vehicles have not been detected. This can be downloaded from the 91st day from the date of registration of the FIR,” the DG&IGP said.