TFP Bureau, New Delhi, December 22, 2025: In a major boost to India’s efforts to curb telecom-enabled cyber fraud, more than 1,000 banks, Third Party Application Providers (TPAPs), payment system operators and financial institutions have been onboarded onto the Department of Telecommunications’ (DoT) Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP). The large-scale adoption has significantly strengthened information-sharing mechanisms aimed at preventing the misuse of telecom resources in cybercrime and financial frauds.
According to official data released by the DoT, the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI), operational on the DIP since May 22, 2025, has helped prevent potential cyber fraud losses of approximately ₹660 crore in just six months. Public sector banks, private banks, cooperative banks, fintech platforms and other financial institutions have reported declining or flagging a large number of suspicious transactions by leveraging FRI alerts, thereby protecting customers and the wider banking ecosystem from significant financial damage.
The Department attributed the success of the initiative to strong institutional support from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which facilitated rapid onboarding and adoption across the financial sector. As of now, over 1,000 entities have actively integrated FRI into their systems. To ensure effective usage, the DoT has also been conducting regular capacity-building and knowledge-sharing sessions, with 16 such sessions held so far.
Officials noted that India’s cybercrime landscape has evolved rapidly in recent years, with fraudsters operating through sophisticated networks involving digital arrest scams, SIM-box frauds and illegal routing of calls. In this challenging environment, citizen participation—Jan Bhagidari—has emerged as a decisive factor in strengthening cyber defence. The Sanchar Saathi platform, developed by the DoT, has become a powerful crowdsourced cyber-intelligence tool, providing continuous inputs that feed into the Financial Fraud Risk Indicator.
The DoT acknowledged the role of vigilant citizens and “Cyber Warriors” who actively use the Sanchar Saathi web portal and mobile application to report suspected fraud communications, fraudulent connections issued in their names, and lost or stolen mobile handsets. Rising downloads and usage of the Sanchar Saathi app reflect growing public trust in the platform and increasing awareness about collective cyber safety. This citizen-driven intelligence is playing a crucial role in identifying fraud patterns, blocking malicious numbers, disabling fake connections and deterring repeat offenders.
Officials pointed out that while many aware users simply ignore suspicious calls or messages, reporting such communications helps protect less-informed citizens. Sanchar Saathi enables users to report suspected frauds directly from call logs with minimal effort, allowing authorities and telecom operators to take swift preventive action across the network.
Reiterating its commitment to building a secure digital payments ecosystem, the DoT urged citizens to actively use Sanchar Saathi’s citizen-centric services. The department emphasized that continued cooperation among institutions such as RBI, NPCI, SEBI, PFRDA, banks, fintech firms, telecom service providers and citizens remains critical to safeguarding India’s fast-growing digital economy.
The Digital Intelligence Platform currently connects over 1,050 organisations, including central security agencies, state police forces, I4C, banks, telecom operators, social media platforms and key government departments, making it one of the most comprehensive collaborative frameworks for combating telecom and cyber fraud in the country.
