The anti-clockwise bipolar resistive switching in Ag/NiO/ITO (Indium–Tin–Oxide) heterojunctional thin film assembly is investigated. A sequential voltage sweep in 0 → V max → 0 → −V min → 0 order shows intrinsic hysteresis behaviour and resistive switching in current density (J)–voltage (V) measurements at room temperature. Switching is induced by possible rupture and recovery of the conducting filaments in NiO layer mediated by oxygen ion migration and interfacial effects at NiO/ITO junction. In the high-resistance OFF-state space charge limited current passes through the filamentary path created by oxygen ion vacancies. In OFF-state, the resistive switching behaviour is attributed to trapping and detrapping processes in shallow trap states mostly consisting of oxygen vacancies. The slope of Log I vs Log V plots, in shallow trap region of space charge limited conduction is ~2 (I ∝ V 2) followed by trap-filled and trap-free conduction. In the low-resistance ON-state, the observed electrical features are governed by the ohmic conduction.