ISLAMABAD: Over the past five years, the conviction rate for cybercrime cases in Pakistan has remained under 5%, with only a small percentage of mobile and internet users reporting digital crimes to authorities.
A response from the interior ministry to the National Assembly revealed that since 2020, 7,020 individuals were arrested on cybercrime charges, but only 222 were convicted, yielding a conviction rate of just 3.16%. Officials attribute this low conviction rate to various factors, including limited capacity, lack of awareness about cybercrime laws, and inadequate investigative resources.
Despite a yearly increase in cybercrime complaints, officials admit that reported cases still represent only a fraction of actual offenses. Since 2020, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has received 639,564 cybercrime complaints, of which 414,260 were verified. This led to 73,825 inquiries and 5,713 cases being filed in courts.
In 2020, 625 individuals were arrested, with only 20 being convicted. Conviction rates remained low in subsequent years, with figures showing an overall decline in complaints in 2024 after a rise in previous years. The data available reflects complaints from the first three quarters of 2024, with total complaints for the year nearing 160,000.
The spokesperson for FIAβs cybercrime wing noted that the number of complaints was still disproportionately low compared to the country’s internet users. With over 139 million mobile broadband users and 143 million internet subscribers, the number of complaints should have surpassed 200,000, according to the wing’s estimates.
The low complaint numbers can also be attributed to a policy change in December 2023, when the federal government empowered the police to register cybercrime cases through an amendment to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) 2016. To address the growing issue, police stations, including those in Islamabad and Punjab, have started to dedicate officers, including females, to handle cybercrime complaints.
Additionally, frequent changes in investigation agencies have contributed to confusion among the public, further discouraging complaints. The FIAβs cybercrime wing, previously responsible for investigating digital crimes, was replaced in May 2024 by the National Cyber Crimes Investigation Agency (NCCIA), which was disbanded in December 2024, and the investigation powers were handed back to the FIA.
