RBI To Set Up Digital Payments Intelligence Platform After Surge In Frauds

Taking a proactive stance against the escalating threat of digital payment fraud, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has unveiled plans for a dedicated platform.

In a significant move announced by the RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the central bank is set to establish a digital payments intelligence platform aimed at combating the surging challenges of cybercrime in India’s digital payment ecosystem.

“The Reserve Bank, over the years, has undertaken a number of measures for the safety and security of digital payments to maintain public confidence in digital payment systems. Sustaining such confidence would require minimising incidence of frauds. Many frauds occur by influencing unsuspecting victims to make the payment or share credentials,” the central bank said.

While the payment ecosystem including banks, NPCI, card networks, payment aggregators, and payment apps take various measures on an ongoing basis to protect customers from such frauds, there is a need for network-level intelligence and real-time data sharing across payment systems, the central bank added.

The RBI has constituted a committee, headed by former NCPI chief AP Hota, to examine various aspects of setting up a digital public infrastructure for Digital Payments Intelligence Platform. The committee is expected to give its recommendations within two months.

“Growing instances of digital payment frauds highlight the need for a system-wide approach to prevent and mitigate such frauds. It is, therefore, proposed to establish a Digital Payments Intelligence Platform for network level intelligence and real-time data sharing across the digital payments’ ecosystem,” RBI Governor said.

The development comes at a time when the number of online frauds in the country surged 334% year-on-year (YoY) to 29,082 in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24). The amount involved in these cases surged to INR 1,457 Cr in FY24 from INR 227 Cr in the previous year.

The RBI as well as the central government have been actively taking measures to combat the rise in online frauds. Last month, the government held discussions with fintech startups and law enforcement agencies to collaborate on addressing challenges related to digital financial fraud.

In April, it was reported that the Ministry of Home Affairs was collaborating with SBI and several telecom companies to develop a solution aimed at alerting users about stolen one-time passwords to combat phishing attacks.