On Wednesday, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) announced its decision to begin sharing Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) data with a variety of financial entities, including banks, non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), and UPI (Unified Payments Interface) service providers. This new measure categorizes mobile numbers into three risk levels associated with financial fraud, utilizing an analytical tool developed by the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP).
FRI Integrates Data from Multiple Platforms
The FRI metrics aim to bolster protections for customers against cyber fraud and financial crimes, particularly during digital transactions. The data for the FRI is generated through an analytics tool built into the government’s Digital Intelligence Platform.
One of the major hurdles in identifying numbers associated with scam calls and cyber fraud stems from the fact that perpetrators frequently change the phone numbers they utilize to target individuals. The FRI metric offers service providers the capability to present early warnings regarding the risks linked to these numbers.
Alongside the FRI data, financial entities and service providers will also gain access to an updated Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL), including reasons for disconnections, which is derived from the DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU).
According to the DoT, the FRI system will categorize flagged suspicious phone numbers as Medium, High, or Very High risk based on the financial threat they pose. This classification can be effectively shared with other banks, NBFCs, and UPI services in real-time.
The categorization leverages data from intelligence shared by financial institutions and is supported by the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre’s (I4C) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and the DoT’s Chakshu platform.
Alerts from the DIP are expected to be implemented on three of India’s leading UPI service platforms—Google Pay, PhonePe, and Paytm. PhonePe, in particular, has been an early adopter of the FRI system, implementing the PhonePe Protect feature to decline digital transactions involving numbers classified as Very High risk. Additionally, the platform intends to introduce proactive warnings to users before allowing transactions with Medium Risk numbers.
The DoT also revealed that another unnamed prominent UPI provider has enhanced its security protocols, incorporating features such as transaction delays and mandatory user confirmations for alerts. Banks are similarly working to combat cyber fraud by utilizing FRI data obtained from the DIP.
