ISLAMABAD: Almost seven months after its formation, the government put an end to its much-touted cybercrime authority — the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA) — and shifted the powers to investigate and prosecute cybercrimes back to the Federal Investigation Agency.

A notification issued by the Ministry of IT and Telecom said that NCCIA rules had been repealed with effect from October 17, 2024. The rules repealed through this notification had been formulated in May 2024 and the information minister had boasted about how this agency would safeguard digital spaces and curb online propaganda.

The minister had said the NCCIA was established under Section 51 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016, leading to the cessation of the Cybercrime Wing of the FIA.

Interestingly, the government failed to put in place the infrastructure for the NCCIA but it did not disband the FIA cybercrime wing established in 2003. Even the technical staff was not moved to another department and continued working despite job insecurity. The 300 digital experts of the cybercrime wing had not received any salary since July this year due to the NCCIA.

A senior FIA official confided to Dawn that after the notification by the IT ministry to repeal the NCCIA, the FIA director general in a written request to the Ministry of Interior asked for the release of salaries of about 300 technical staff.

The department was established to ‘counter propaganda and rumours on social media’

Interestingly, the federal cabinet decided to abolish the NCCIA based on a decision of the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) made on September 25, 2024. The IT ministry was informed about the cabinet decision on October 23, 2024, but it delayed the notification to repeal the May 2024 decision regarding the NCCIA.

The NCCIA idea to curb a rise in cybercrimes, such as financial frauds, online harassment, and fake news, was floated in December 2023 by Umar Saif, then caretaker minister for IT and telecom. He had announced a plan to create the ‘National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency’ which would replace the cybercrime wing of the FIA. The idea was picked up by the new government after the Feb 8 elections and in May 2024, the federal government established the NCCIA, rendering the FIA’s cybercrime wing defunct.

While announcing the establishment of the NCCIA, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar had said that the new agency was an independent unit formed to “safeguard the digital rights of people” and “counter propaganda and rumours on social media”. He had said there was no law in the country to protect the digital rights of consumers.

After its establishment, the cabinet said all existing personnel, assets, liabilities, rights, obligations, privileges, enquiries, and investigations related to the FIA’s “defunct” cybercrime wing would be transferred to the NCCIA. But it was also decided that existing personnel of the FIA would continue to perform their duties for another year.

The NCCIA had to be headed by a director-general, who would exercise the powers of an inspector general of police, while the agency’s affairs related to the federal government’s business would be allocated to the interior division. An official of the IT ministry said that despite the issuance of the notification, the government failed to make key appointments in the NCCIA or even fulfill its budgetary requirements.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024