RBI pushes for real-time cyber fraud checks with DoT’s risk indicator

With real-time access to FRI, banks and financial service providers can enhance fraud prevention efforts by blocking or delaying suspicious transactions, notifying customers of potential risks, or taking other precautionary actions when a mobile number is flagged as high-risk.

Amid the growing menace of cyber frauds, the Reserve Bank of India recently issued a directive that mandates all Scheduled Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, and Co-operative Banks to integrate the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator into their systems.

Developed by Department of Telecommunications, this integration is a significant step forward in the collective fight against cyber-enabled financial crimes and highlights the importance of inter-agency collaboration in securing India’s expanding digital economy. It also emphasizes the critical role of automated, API-based data exchange between banking institutions and the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), fostering real-time fraud detection and ongoing refinement of risk models.

Introduced in May 2025 by the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) is a classification system that evaluates and assigns risk levels—Medium, High, or Very High—to mobile numbers based on their association with financial fraud. The risk assessment draws from multiple sources, including complaints filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) under the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), reports via DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence shared by banks and other financial entities.

This tool enables banks, NBFCs, and UPI platforms to take preemptive steps by focusing their attention on mobile numbers with high-risk indicators. The DIU also circulates a Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL), detailing numbers disconnected due to verified involvement in cybercrime, failed KYC re-verification, or misuse—many of which are linked to fraudulent activities.

With real-time access to FRI, banks and financial service providers can enhance fraud prevention efforts by blocking or delaying suspicious transactions, notifying customers of potential risks, or taking other precautionary actions when a mobile number is flagged as high-risk. Major financial institutions such as PhonePe, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Paytm, and India Post Payments Bank are already leveraging the FRI system to bolster customer security. Given the widespread use of UPI for digital payments across India, the adoption of FRI stands to protect millions from cyber threats.

The DoT remains committed to supporting the financial sector through technology-driven, nationally coordinated frameworks like FRI. This initiative marks a transformative step toward building a secure digital ecosystem in line with the Government’s Digital India mission. By deepening collaboration with RBI-regulated institutions, the DoT aims to enhance alert mechanisms, expedite fraud detection, and integrate telecom intelligence directly into the operational fabric of the banking sector. As more institutions embed FRI into their systems, it is poised to become an industry benchmark, strengthening real-time decision-making, enhancing digital trust, and fortifying the overall resilience of India’s digital financial infrastructure.