Mumbai/New Delhi: In a move to combat the rising tide of cyber fraud sweeping through India’s digital economy, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued a directive on June 30, 2025, mandating all Scheduled Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, and Co-operative Banks to integrate the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) into their systems, a step hailed by the DoT as a watershed moment in safeguarding millions of citizens.
This advisory marks a new chapter in the fight against cyber-enabled financial fraud, leveraging inter-agency collaboration to strengthen trust in a nation where digital transactions, particularly via UPI, have become the backbone of daily life. With fraudsters exploiting the speed and anonymity of digital payments, this initiative promises to arm banks with real-time tools to protect customers, marking a pivotal stride toward a more secure financial future.
The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, launched in May 2025 by DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), is a risk-based metric designed to identify mobile numbers linked to financial fraud, classifying them as Medium, High, or Very High risk. Drawing from a robust pool of data—including reports from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’s (I4C) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions—the FRI offers a precise snapshot of potential threats. The DIU’s Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) further supports this effort, detailing numbers disconnected due to cybercrime links, failed re-verification, or misuse, many of which are tied to financial scams. For banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and UPI service providers, this tool empowers proactive measures, such as declining suspicious transactions, issuing customer alerts, or delaying high-risk payments, transforming how financial institutions respond to fraud.
The urgency of this initiative is clear in the context of India’s digital payment boom. With UPI handling over 10 billion transactions monthly, according to NPCI data from early 2025, it’s the preferred payment method for millions, from street vendors to urban professionals. Yet, this convenience has made it a prime target for cybercriminals, who use tactics like phishing, fake UPI apps, and identity theft to siphon funds. In 2024 alone, I4C reported over 1.2 million cybercrime complaints, with financial frauds costing victims billions of rupees. The FRI’s real-time capabilities, already adopted by leading institutions like PhonePe, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Paytm, and India Post Payments Bank, have shown promise in curbing these losses. For instance, a Mumbai-based HDFC Bank branch recently thwarted a ₹5 lakh fraudulent transfer after the FRI flagged the recipient’s mobile number as “High” risk, alerting the bank to verify the transaction manually.
The RBI’s advisory emphasises the strategic importance of automating data exchange between banks and the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) through API-based integration, enabling real-time responsiveness and continuous feedback to refine fraud risk models. This seamless flow of information allows banks to act swiftly—imagine a rural bank manager receiving an instant alert about a suspicious transaction, saving a farmer from losing their savings to a scam call. DoT remains committed to supporting banks and financial institutions in their efforts to combat cyber-enabled fraud, deploying technology-led, nationally coordinated solutions like the FRI. This move aligns with the Government’s broader Digital India vision, which seeks to empower citizens through a secure digital infrastructure.
As more institutions integrate the FRI into their customer-facing systems, it is expected to evolve into a sector-wide standard, reinforcing trust, enabling real-time decision-making, and delivering greater systemic resilience across India’s digital financial architecture. The collaboration between DoT and RBI-regulated entities is streamlining alert mechanisms, accelerating fraud detection, and embedding telecom intelligence directly into banking workflows. This partnership is not just about technology—it’s about restoring confidence for ordinary citizens, like the Delhi shopkeeper who nearly lost ₹2 lakh to a phishing scam but was saved by a timely bank alert. By weaving telecom and financial intelligence into a unified defence, the FRI is poised to protect millions from the growing sophistication of cyber fraud.
This initiative marks a new era of digital trust and security, as DoT continues to work closely with RBI-regulated entities to ensure that India’s digital economy remains a space of opportunity, not vulnerability. As cyber fraudsters adapt, so too must the systems designed to stop them, and the FRI represents a dynamic, evolving shield. In a nation where digital transactions are the lifeblood of commerce, this landmark step ensures that security keeps pace with innovation, offering hope that India’s financial future will be defined by resilience rather than risk.
– global bihari bureau
