This cross-sector collaboration among telecom providers, banks, payment service providers, and fintech is critical.
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, May 25, 2025: In a major step towards combating cyber fraud and financial crime, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has announced sharing of “Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI)” with stakeholders- an output from a multi- dimensional analytical tool developed as part of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) to empower financial institutions with advance actionable intelligence for cyber fraud prevention. This will enhance cyber protection and validation checks in case of mobile numbers flagged with this tool when digital payment is proposed to be made to such numbers.
Deepak Chand Thakur, Co-Founder and CEO, NPST, has welcome the recent introduction of Financial Fraud Risk Indicator by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT):
“While the rapid digitization of India’s payments ecosystem has unlocked unprecedented convenience and financial empowerment, it has also opened new avenues for fraud. Cybercriminals are adopting increasingly sophisticated and deceptive tactics—often exploiting mobile channels through phishing, vishing, and SIM swap fraud. Tackling these evolving threats requires a response that is equally advanced, agile, and collaborative.
In this context, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)’s introduction of the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) marks a pivotal advancement. Built on the analytical capabilities of the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), the FRI provides real-time risk classification of mobile numbers, ranging from Medium to Very High risk. What makes this initiative particularly impactful is its foundation in shared intelligence. By integrating inputs from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C)’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, DoT’s Chakshu platform, and real-time data from banks and financial institutions, the FRI creates a comprehensive and unified fraud defense framework.
This cross-sector collaboration among telecom providers, banks, payment service providers, and fintechs is critical. It empowers stakeholders to proactively identify suspicious activity, block potential fraud attempts, and alert customers before harm is done.
At NPST, we remain fully aligned with this mission. We firmly believe that industry-wide integration of the FRI into customer-facing systems will raise the security benchmark for digital payments. Through shared, real-time intelligence and preemptive action, the payment ecosystem can lay the groundwork for a secure, fraud-resilient digital future.”
