Ø Measures include strengthening Cyber
Safety with DPDP Act, AI-Based Fraud Detection & National Cybercrime
Reporting Mechanisms
·
Continuous
Review: The Government is regularly engaging with
financial sector regulators and stakeholders to review issues relating to the fintech ecosystem,
including digital lending
platforms and payment
aggregators.
·
FinTech
Self-Regulatory Framework: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
issued the Framework for
Self-Regulatory Organisation(s) in the FinTech Sector (SRO-FT)
on 30 May 2024
to:
o Establish regulatory standards.
o Promote ethical conduct.
o Ensure market integrity.
o Resolve disputes.
o Enhance transparency and accountability
among fintech entities.
·
Digital
Payment Security: RBI issued Master Directions on Digital Payment
Security Controls in February
2021, prescribing minimum security standards for:
o Internet banking.
o Mobile banking.
o Card payments.
o Other digital payment channels.
·
AI-Based
Fraud Detection: The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)
provides banks with an AI/Machine
Learning-based fraud monitoring system to detect suspicious
Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
transactions, generate alerts and decline fraudulent transactions.
·
Data
Protection Framework: The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has notified:
o The Digital
Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, and
o The DPDP
Rules, 2025,
to safeguard individuals' personal data.
·
Regulatory
Sandbox: RBI introduced a Regulatory Sandbox Framework
in August 2019,
enabling fintech firms to test innovative financial products and services in a
controlled regulatory environment, with or without regulatory relaxations.
·
Cybercrime
Reporting Mechanism: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has
established:
o The National
Cybercrime Reporting Portal for reporting cyber incidents,
including illegal loan apps.
o The National
Cybercrime Helpline (1930) for immediate reporting of cyber
fraud.
·
Public
Complaint Platforms: Banks facilitate complaints regarding
illegal deposit-taking and money collection through:
o The SACHET
Portal.
o State Level Coordination Committees
(SLCCs).
·
Consumer
Awareness Initiatives: RBI and banks
regularly conduct awareness campaigns through:
o SMS alerts.
o Radio campaigns.
o Public awareness programmes on cybercrime
prevention.
·
Financial
Literacy Programmes: RBI's electronic-Banking Awareness and Training (eBAAT) programmes educate consumers on:
o Digital payment safety.
o Fraud prevention.
o Risk mitigation practices.
·
Reinforces
India's regulatory framework for a rapidly expanding fintech ecosystem.
·
Enhances
security and consumer protection in digital payments and digital lending.
·
Promotes
responsible fintech innovation through the Regulatory Sandbox and
self-regulatory mechanisms.
·
Strengthens
cyber fraud prevention through AI-driven monitoring, robust data protection
laws, public complaint platforms and nationwide awareness campaigns.
[ABS News Service/21.07.2026]
The
Government has been constantly engaging with the financial sector regulators
and other concerned stakeholders to review the issues related to fintech
ecosystem including digital lending platforms and payment aggregators in the
country.
Based
on such review assessment, various regulatory and supervisory interventions
have been taken from time to time which, inter alia, includes the following:
1.
The
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued the “Framework for Self-Regulatory
Organisation(s) in the FinTech Sector” (SRO-FT framework) on 30.05.2024 for
establishing and enforcing regulatory standards, promoting ethical conduct,
ensuring market integrity, resolving disputes, and fostering transparency and
accountability among its members.
2.
RBI
has issued Master Directions on Digital Payment Security Controls in February,
2021 to combat web and mobile app threats. These guidelines mandate the banks
to implement a common minimum standard of security controls for various payment
channels like internet, mobile banking, card payment etc. Additionally,
National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) provides a fraud monitoring
solution to all the banks to generate alerts and decline transactions by using
Artificial Intelligence (AI)/Machine Learning (ML) based models for Unified
Payments Interface (UPI) transactions.
3.
The
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
has notified the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and DPDP
Rules 2025 to protect personal data of individuals.
4.
Further,
RBI has introduced an enabling framework for Regulatory Sandbox in August 2019
which allows testing of new innovative financial products/services in a
controlled regulatory environment with or without regulatory relaxation.
In
addition to the above, for safeguarding the interests of consumers and
facilitate citizens to report cyber incidents, including illegal loan apps, the
Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched the National Cybercrime Reporting
Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) and a National Cybercrime Helpline number
“1930”. The banks through the public facing platform ‘SACHET’ portal and
the State Level Coordination Committee (SLCC) facilitate the citizens for
lodging of any complaints against specific entity related to deposit/
collection of money illegally. RBI and Banks have been taking up awareness
campaigns through short SMS, radio campaign, publicity on prevention of
‘cyber-crime’. Further, RBI has been conducting electronic-banking awareness
and training (eBAAT) programmes which focuses on
awareness about frauds and risk mitigation.
This
information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance
Pankaj Chaudhary in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on 20 July, 2026.