UPI frauds: RBI plans digital payments intelligence platform

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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is planning to set up a digital payments intelligence platform for sharing data on a real-time basis across digital payment eco-system to safeguard the interest of consumers.

The proposed network-level intelligence platform will boost consumer confidence, said RBI in its bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement released on Friday.

The central bank has taken a number of measures over the years to deepen digital payments while ensuring their safety and security.

Growing instances of digital payment frauds, however, highlight the need for a system-wide approach to prevent and mitigate such frauds, said Shaktikanta Das, Governor, RBI.

It is, therefore, proposed to establish a digital payments intelligence platform for network-level intelligence and real-time data sharing across the digital payments’ ecosystem.

To take this initiative forward, the Reserve Bank has constituted a committee to examine various aspects of setting up the platform, he said.

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Digital payment fraud has witnessed a sharp jump of more than fivefold to a record ₹1,457 crore in the fiscal year ended March 2024, according to the RBI annual report.

The alarming increase coincides with India’s rapid transformation into a digital payments powerhouse, fuelled by the widespread adoption of the unified payments interface (UPI) since its launch in 2016. UPI transactions have seen explosive growth, surging 137 per cent in the past two years to touch ₹200-lakh crore, as per RBI data.

The digital payment is boosted by affordable internet access and greater financial inclusion. However, this growth has attracted the attention of fraudsters, who conveniently target vulnerable section of the society.

In response, RBI has launched several high-profile awareness campaigns to educate consumers about financial fraud risks. However, digital payments, including card and internet transactions, accounted for 10 per cent of the total fraud amount in FY24, an increase from 1.1 per cent in the previous fiscal year.