Context:
In a major move to strengthen digital financial safeguards, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued an advisory encouraging all banks to adopt the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) developed by the Department of Telecom (DoT). This initiative reflects a growing emphasis on real-time fraud prevention amid the rising use of digital payments across India.
Key Highlights
Real-Time Fraud Detection
- The FRI tool allows real-time risk classification of mobile numbers.
- Risk levels are categorized as:
- Medium risk
- High risk
- Very high risk
- Banks can use this tool to screen mobile numbers during transactions to prevent fraud.
Data Sources
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The FRI system is powered by cross-agency intelligence from:
- Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP)
- DoT’s Chakshu platform
- Fraud intelligence shared by banks and financial institutions
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RBI’s Directive
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- RBI has advised all Scheduled Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payment Banks, and Cooperative Banks to integrate the FRI into their internal systems.
- This integration is expected to:
- Reduce online financial frauds
- Enhance transaction security
- Improve fraud detection and response time
Early Adopters of FRI
The tool has already been adopted by several major financial players, including:
- PhonePe
- Punjab National Bank
- HDFC Bank
- ICICI Bank
- Paytm
- India Post Payments Bank
These institutions have reportedly witnessed the tool’s operational utility in reducing fraud risk.
