The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued an advisory to banks for the integration of the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator, a tool developed by the Department of Telecom (DoT), to mitigate online financial frauds.

This directive aims to enhance the security of digital transactions and protect consumers.

The Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) tool enables banks and financial institutions to assess the risk of financial fraud associated with mobile numbers in real-time.

The tool categorises numbers based on their potential risk levels, ranging from medium to very high. The data utilised by the FRI is sourced from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre’s National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, DoT’s Chakshu platform, and intelligence from banks and financial institutions.

The RBI’s advisory was welcomed by the DoT, encouraging all scheduled commercial banks, small finance banks, payment banks, and cooperative banks to adopt the FRI system.

The Digital Intelligence Unit of DoT, which launched the FRI in May 2025, has already seen its effectiveness with major players like PhonePe, Punjab National Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Paytm, and India Post Payments Bank utilising the platform.

The FRI’s implementation is particularly significant given the widespread preference for UPI transactions across India. The tool is designed to enable quick and collaborative measures against potential fraud in both the telecom and financial sectors, potentially saving millions from cyber fraud.

The DoT has described the RBI’s advisory as a critical step in combating cyber-enabled financial frauds, highlighting the success of inter-agency cooperation.

“It also underscores the strategic importance of automating data exchange between banks and DoT’s DIP through API-based integration, enabling real-time responsiveness and continuous feedback to further refine the fraud risk models,” the DoT’s statement said.