The Ministry of Interior on Tuesday issued a notification allowing the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to establish 15 new cyber-crime reporting centres across the country.

The decision has been taken in accordance with Section 51 of the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016, which grants the government powers to take all the necessary measures for the prevention of cyber-crime.

The notification also mentioned the extent of jurisdiction each newly formed centre will have across various districts.

The centres will be established “in line with the government’s efforts to prevent cyber-crime”, an interior ministry official said.

Earlier this year, as part of an FIA initiative, reporting a cyber-crime incident was made easy for internet users when the FIA’s Sindh chapter launched a web portal for the registration of complaintsrelated to cyber-crime, becoming the first province to take such an initiative.

Sindh FIA director Dr Amir Ahmed Sheikh had announced the launch of the portal (www.fiacybercrimesindh.com.pk) and urged women and youngsters in particular to report cybercrime or harassment on the website.

He said the website launched by the FIA’s Sindh chapter was designed keeping in mind a user-friendly approach and had the capacity to register complaints in Urdu, English or Sindhi.

The FIA officials, he said, after receiving the complaint over the web portal would contact the complainant within 48 hours and in case of urgency, he or she could be approached “within the next few minutes” as well.