DoT Launches Financial Fraud Risk Indicator to Tackle Cyber Crime

In a proactive move to safeguard India’s fast-growing digital economy, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has introduced the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), a powerful analytics tool under the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). This initiative aims to identify and block mobile numbers linked to potential financial frauds, thereby bolstering cyber safety and helping institutions such as banks and UPI platforms prevent fraudulent transactions.

Why in News?

On 21st May 2025, DoT officially announced the rollout of FRI to financial stakeholders, marking a crucial step toward real-time fraud prevention and cybercrime mitigation in India’s digital ecosystem. The move follows a rise in cybercrime linked to mobile numbers used for digital payments, especially UPI transactions.

Key Objectives of FRI

• Prevent financial fraud using pre-flagged mobile numbers.
• Enable early detection and warning mechanisms for stakeholders.
• Protect digital transactions through enhanced validation checks.

What is the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)?

A risk-based metric categorizing mobile numbers as,,

• Medium
• High
• Very High risk.

The categorization is based on,

• Inputs from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP)
• DoT’s Chakshu platform
• Banks and financial institutions
• Helps in prioritizing response and blocking fraudulent transactions.

How It Works

DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU) shares flagged numbers with,

• Banks
• UPI service providers
• NBFCs and other financial bodies
• Flagged numbers appear in the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL).
• Real-time alerts are sent for validation before UPI payments are executed.

Industry Adoption and Use Cases

PhonePe

• Declines high-risk FRI numbers via PhonePe Protect.
• Warns users before allowing medium-risk transactions.

Paytm and Google Pay

• Implementing transaction delays and alerts for flagged numbers.

Banks

• Using DIP alerts to prevent suspicious transactions.

Importance of the Initiative

• With UPI being India’s top payment mode, this tool can prevent massive financial losses.
• Enables collaborative and targeted response across telecom and financial sectors.
• Enhances systemic resilience and public trust in digital payments.

Summary/Static	Details
Why in the news?	DoT Launches Financial Fraud Risk Indicator to Tackle Cyber Crime
Announced by	Department of Telecommunications (DoT)
Feature	Introduced Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)
Platform Used	Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP)
Purpose	Cyber fraud prevention through risk classification of numbers
Risk Levels	Medium, High, Very High
Initial Adopter	PhonePe (via PhonePe Protect feature)
Stakeholders Involved	Banks, NBFCs, UPI providers, DoT, Cybercrime Portal (I4C)
Importance	Prevents cyber fraud, protects UPI ecosystem, aids early warnings