India's overall crime rate falls, but cyber-crime a rising concern

An SBI report shows India's overall crime rate fell 6.0% in 2024 due to digitization and surveillance. However, cyber-crime is surging, potentially crossing 1 lakh cases, while a slight dip in crime against women is noted as insufficient.

India is witnessing an uneven trend in criminal activity, with overall crime declining due to increased public investment, digitization, and enhanced surveillance, meanwhile cyber-crime has risen, potentially crossing 1 lakh cases, according to a report by public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI). It noted, "India recorded 58.86 lakh cognizable crimes in 2024, down by 6.0% from the previous year, with the all-India crime rate falling from 448.3 to 418.9 per lakh population."

Unbelievably, crime against women -- which has been a major crime highlight in India -- has dropped by 1.5 per cent from 4.48 lakh cases in 2023 to 4.41 lakh cases in 2024, the report said.

Digitization and Surveillance Key to Crime Reduction

Digitization increases the chances of detection through tools such as UPI, FASTag and digital surveillance, raising the expected cost of committing crime. Areas with more CCTV cameras saw a slight drop in crime between 2022 and 2024, with a correlation of -0.148.

Additionally, under initiatives like Smart Cities Mission, all 100 Smart Cities have operational Integrated Command and Control Centres to integrate data, technology, surveillance and real-time monitoring for improved urban management. "More than 84,000 CCTV surveillance cameras had been installed across the 100 Smart Cities, along with 1,884 emergency call boxes, 3,000 public address systems. These measures increase the perceived probability of detection," the report said.

Furthermore, areas with more CCTV cameras saw a slight drop in crime between 2022 and 2024, "with a correlation of -0.148."

Crime Reduction Boosts Economic Growth

As per the report, there is an interesting relationship between crime and economic growth. "Empirical literature suggests that crime can act as a drag on economic growth by raising uncertainty, increasing security and transaction costs, discouraging investment, and crowding out legal economic activity (Goulas and Zervoyianni , 2013)," it said. It noted that a 1 per cent decline in the IPC/BNS crime rate per lakh population is associated with about 0.11 per cent higher real GDP growth in the short run. Hence. as crime declines, society gains a growth dividend.

Women's Safety as a Labour Market Variable

Noting that crime against women acts as a labour market friction and could lead to lower participation by females. "The broader implication is that women's safety is not only a law-and-order issue; it is also a labour market policy variable," it said.

Crime Against Women: A Persistent Challenge

While crime against women has dropped, the decline remains a drop in the ocean given the scale of the challenge. NCRB 2024 recorded 1,20,227 cases and 1,21,166 victims under cruelty by husband or relatives. Based on NFHS-5 data, with an estimated 27.88 crore ever-married women in the relevant age group, and 24 per cent reporting physical and/or sexual spousal violence in the past 12 months, the estimated annual burden rises to about 6.69 crore women, as per the SBI report.

(ANI)

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