New Delhi: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has lauded the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent advisory, issued on June 30, 2025, directing all Scheduled Commercial Banks, Small Finance Banks, Payments Banks, and Co-operative Banks to integrate the DoT-developed Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) into their operational systems.
This directive marks a pivotal moment in India’s battle against cyber-enabled financial frauds, highlighting the critical role of inter-agency cooperation in securing the nation’s burgeoning digital economy.
The move also emphasizes the strategic necessity of automating data exchange between banks and DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) through API-based integration, facilitating real-time responsiveness and continuous feedback for the refinement of fraud risk models.
Understanding the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)
The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), launched in May 2025 by DoT’s Digital Intelligence Unit (DIU), is an innovative, risk-based metric designed to classify mobile numbers based on their association with financial fraud. This classification assigns a risk level – Medium, High, or Very High – to a mobile number.
The intelligence underpinning the FRI is derived from a multi-stakeholder approach, incorporating:
- Reporting from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’s (I4C) National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
- Data from DoT’s own Chakshu platform.
- Intelligence shared by banks and other financial institutions.
The primary purpose of the FRI is to empower various stakeholders, particularly banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), and UPI service providers, to prioritize enforcement actions and implement additional customer protection measures when a mobile number is identified as having a high risk of being involved in fraud. Furthermore, the DIU regularly disseminates the Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL) to stakeholders. This list details mobile numbers that have been disconnected due to links with cybercrime, failed re-verification processes, or misuse, many of which are directly connected to financial frauds.
How FRI Will Aid Banks in Preventing Cyber Fraud
The integration of the FRI will provide banks and financial institutions with a powerful tool for real-time fraud prevention. By leveraging the FRI, institutions can take proactive measures, including:
- Declining suspicious transactions: Immediately blocking transactions originating from or linked to high-risk mobile numbers.
- Issuing alerts or warnings to customers: Notifying customers when their transactions or accounts are associated with a potentially fraudulent mobile number.
- Delaying transactions flagged as high risk: Introducing a holding period for transactions deemed risky, allowing for further verification.
The effectiveness of the FRI has already been demonstrated through its active use by leading financial institutions and payment service providers, including PhonePe, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Paytm, and India Post Payments Bank.
Given the widespread adoption of UPI as India’s preferred payment method, this intervention has the potential to safeguard millions of citizens from falling victim to cyber fraud. The FRI facilitates swift, targeted, and collaborative action against suspected fraudulent activities across both the telecom and financial domains.
A New Era of Digital Trust and Security
The DoT remains steadfast in its commitment to supporting banks and financial institutions in their endeavors to combat cyber-enabled frauds. This commitment is underpinned by the deployment of technology-led, nationally coordinated solutions like the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator. This initiative signifies a crucial step towards fostering a new era of digital trust and security, aligning seamlessly with the Government’s broader Digital India vision.
The DoT continues to collaborate closely with RBI-regulated entities to streamline alert mechanisms, accelerate fraud detection, and integrate telecom intelligence directly into banking workflows. As more institutions incorporate the FRI into their customer-facing systems, it is anticipated to evolve into a sector-wide standard. This widespread adoption will further reinforce trust in digital transactions, enable real-time decision-making, and significantly enhance systemic resilience across India’s digital financial architecture.