Latest news with #UPI-related
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Business Standard
26-06-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
1 in 5 UPI users faced fraud; 51% victims didn't report, reveals survey
One in five families with a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) user has experienced fraud at least once in the past three years, according to a new survey conducted by LocalCircles. The findings come as UPI transactions have soared, with 185.8 billion transactions recorded in FY2024–25 — a 41.7 per cent increase from the previous year, accounting for 83.4 per cent of the total digital payment volume in the country. The survey, which gathered over 32,000 responses from UPI users across 365 districts, found that fraudsters are exploiting the rapid adoption of UPI through a variety of tactics. Of those who reported experiencing fraud: Many victims experienced more than one type of fraud, underscoring the sophisticated and evolving methods used by cybercriminals. Underreporting of fraud incidents A particularly concerning finding is that 51 per cent of those who experienced UPI fraud did not file any official complaint, whether with the police, their bank, the UPI platform, or regulatory bodies such as the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This significant underreporting suggests that the true scale of UPI-related fraud is likely much higher than official statistics indicate. Regulatory and technological response The RBI's Annual Report for FY2024–25 noted a sharp rise in digital payment frauds, with 13,516 cases accounting for 56.5 per cent of all reported banking frauds and losses totalling Rs 520 crore. While not all these cases are UPI-specific, the inclusion of UPI in these figures reflects its vulnerability as a target for fraudsters. To combat these threats, several measures have been implemented: - The RBI has set up the Central Payment Fraud Information Registry (CPFIR), which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to track and report payment frauds. - Security features such as device binding, PIN-based two-factor authentication, and daily transaction limits have been introduced. The daily UPI transaction limit is Rs 1 lakh, with higher limits for specific transaction types. - The government has launched the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and helpline 1930 for reporting suspicious activities. - The RBI is developing a Digital Payments Intelligence Platform, leveraging advanced technologies for real-time fraud detection and mitigation. A committee led by former NPCI MD and CEO AP Hota is overseeing this initiative. - In December 2024, the RBI introduced an AI-ML-based tool to identify mule accounts used for illegal activities, piloted successfully in two public sector banks. - Exclusive internet domains (. and . are being rolled out to combat phishing and enhance trust in digital banking. Public awareness, need for simplified reporting Despite these measures, user feedback from the survey indicates a pressing need for easier, single-click fraud complaint reporting that is both responsive and effective. Many users expressed frustration with the complexity and inefficiency of current reporting mechanisms. The study recommends that all stakeholders—including the government, RBI, NPCI, banks, and payment platforms — work towards a streamlined, user-friendly system for fraud reporting, with timely response and resolution.
Time of India
17-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
How Google plans to save Indians ₹20,000 Crore from cybercrime in 2025
Google unveiled its comprehensive Safety Charter for India on Monday, announcing AI-powered security measures that could prevent Indian entities from losing up to ₹20,000 crore to cybercrime in 2025. The initiative comes as UPI-related frauds alone cost Indians over ₹1,087 crore in 2024, with scammers increasingly using AI-generated content and deepfakes to deceive victims. The Safety Charter introduces three key pillars: protecting end users from online fraud, advancing cybersecurity for public infrastructure , and building AI responsibly. Google's DigiKavach program has already reached 177 million users with fraud awareness campaigns and will expand through an official partnership with India's Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C). "The digital sphere can be an engine of growth only as long as the citizenry that use it feel safe," said Preeti Lobana , VP and Country Manager for Google India, emphasizing trust as the foundation of India's digital economy. AI-powered protection shields millions from daily scam attempts by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เทรด CFDs ด้วยเทคโนโลยีเทรดสุดล้ำ และ รวดเร็วกว่า IC Markets อ่านเพิ่มเติม Undo Google's AI systems are already delivering impressive results across its consumer platforms. Google Messages now protects users from over 500 million suspicious messages monthly using AI-powered scam detection, while Google Pay has displayed 4.1 crore warnings against potentially fraudulent transactions. The company's search engine now catches 20 times more scammy pages before they cause harm, thanks to advanced AI integration including large language models. Google Play Protect has blocked nearly 6 crore attempts to install high-risk apps since its October 2024 pilot launch in India, protecting over 13 million devices from potential malware infections. In 2024 alone, Google removed 247 million fraudulent ads and suspended 2.9 million accounts for policy violations. The company's enhanced Financial Services Verification policy has dramatically reduced fraudulent financial advertisements by requiring strict compliance with local regulations. Gmail continues to automatically block over 99.9% of spam, phishing, and malware attempts, safeguarding 2.5 billion inboxes globally. Android users receive over 2.5 billion warnings about opening suspicious URLs from unknown senders, with all detection happening on-device to maintain privacy. Enterprise security gets quantum-ready upgrades Beyond consumer protection, Google is strengthening enterprise and government cybersecurity infrastructure. The company's Project Zero team, collaborating with Google DeepMind, recently discovered a critical vulnerability in SQLite using AI agents—marking the first public example of AI finding such security flaws in real-world software. Google is investing $5 million through to expand cybersecurity clinics across Asia-Pacific, including partnerships with Indian universities to strengthen local small and medium enterprises' security capabilities. The initiative builds on an earlier $15 million commitment to The Asia Foundation's APAC Cybersecurity Fund. The company is also advancing quantum-resistant security through collaboration with IIT Madras on Post-Quantum Cryptography research, preparing for future threats that could emerge with quantum computing capabilities. Google's responsible AI approach includes rigorous testing, AI-assisted red teaming, and its SynthID technology, which has already watermarked over 10 billion pieces of AI-generated content. The company's IndicGenBench initiative specifically fine-tunes language models for accurate performance across 29 Indian languages. "Safety is a shared responsibility," the charter emphasizes, calling for collaboration across law enforcement, banks, civil society, and government bodies to create a resilient digital ecosystem for India's 1.4 billion citizens. AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
Mint
27-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Govt gets a seat on India's new payments regulator. Here's why
Mumbai: India's decision to establish a new regulatory board with government representation reflects the desire to manage and control the critical digital public infrastructure, including the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) that accounts for nearly 80% of all cashless transactions, according to industry experts. Last week, the government notified rules to set up a Payments Regulatory Board, replacing the existing Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement System. It will be chaired by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, and will have two other RBI members. The central government will nominate three representatives. Also Read | How India pays online: UPI leads with 65% share, EMIs make up 20%—in charts 'UPI is a digital public infrastructure like Aadhaar. We're talking about the payments infrastructure in the country, which is a national critical asset," said Vivek Mandhata, managing director and partner, Boston Consultancy Group (BCG). 'So the government and regulator together have to define the path, and that's probably the intention why this kind of a committee structure is being set up." The UPI platform processed a record 186 billion transactions worth ₹261 trillion in FY25. Monthly transaction volumes touched a high of 18.3 billion in March 2025, amounting to ₹ 24.8 trillion—up 36% on-year by volume and 25% by value, Mint had reported on 4 April. According to the latest data by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the numbers moderated to 17.9 billion transactions worth ₹23.9 trillion in April. Also Read | RBI gives final approval to PayU for online payment aggregator UPI charges The government has been footing a large part of the bill for digital payments as it hands out UPI-related incentives. 'UPI is a national crown jewel, and the government wants to control it as much as RBI needs to. And this tussle has been going on for a while now," a senior industry executive said on the condition of anonymity. "Every time UPI goes down for even 30 minutes, it's crisis mode. And at that scale, the government looks at this as a very important asset to monitor and manage," the executive said. 'It's been 2-3 years now since there's been a push to bring proper economics into the UPI ecosystem. But the holding back is happening through the Centre because they don't want this jewel to get any tarnish at this point." Ranadurjay Talukdar, partner and payments sector leader at EY India, said growing discussions around making UPI chargeable have warranted the need to acknowledge industry voices. Also Read | Mint Explainer: UPI Circle's vast potential beyond family and friends 'It has become almost a political necessity now with the finance ministry needing to step in to clarify every time there is talk of making UPI payments chargeable," he said. "Even so, it is the banks that have been incurring a bulk of the cost, spending crores for digital infrastructure upgrade and upkeep to keep up with the growth in UPI transaction volumes. However, they have made little in terms of UPI revenue," Talukdar said. 'A lot of it has been thrust down upon the Indian financial services sector by the government and the RBI, and this might finally be an opportunity for banks to actually also be heard in this in this whole bargain," he said, adding that this would include examining what is sustainable such as in terms of physical KYC (know your customer) of merchants. Strategic needs The need for government representation may have also been driven by the need to supervise how money flows in and out of the country. Given that the government and the regulator then have equal stake in policy-making, it would make sense for them to come together for more transparent decision-making rather than one party first formulating the policies and then influencing the other, say experts. Rahul Jain, chief financial officer at NTT Data Payment Services India, cited the example of the Mahadev betting app case. Such incidents have warranted the need for the government to monitor money going out of the country. 'The government viewpoint seems to define a certain unified methodology so that people don't have to struggle with multiple departments and processes," Jain said, adding that this would also allow much better coordination between government agencies and RBI because there are still a lot of moving parts such as the legal or cyber security aspects which the RBI cannot address itself independently, being a regulator. The creation of the Payments Regulatory Board has been in discussions since 2017 when an inter-ministerial committee recommended setting up an independent regulator for payments-related matters, chaired by a government representative. The RBI had written back to the government in October 2018, advocating that regulations remain within the central bank. The apex bank had then recommended setting up a Payments Regulatory Board headed by the RBI governor with a casting vote, and the government may nominate three members. The government has now notified the 'Payments Regulatory Board Regulations, 2025 to set up the new regulator. "RBI is still going to be in the driver's seat, in terms of policy setting. They just have the opinion of other stakeholders coming into the process more formally," BCG's Mandhata said, adding that there is an urge to simplify and strengthen the overall payments ecosystem. In the current environment, payments is a critical 'nerve centre" to control and maintain independence from a geopolitical stability standpoint, according to Mandhata. The government would want to have an overview on the work being done on cross-border payments, including UPI going international and anti-money laundering, which will influence some strategic priorities of the nation, he said, adding that collaboration in this regard would help speed up the pace of change or response in terms of policy and regulation making. EY's Talukdar believes government representation could lead to more uniform policies on aspects such as cryptocurrency, gaming platforms, treatment of foreign operators, and the entry of social media platforms such as WhatsApp and X into the payments space. "If this is a success, there may be areas like digital lending, which is another sensitive area, or MSME lending, where the government could play a role in deciding the course of future policy-making." Beyond RBI's scope Some believe the RBI's role is limited in terms of regulating fintechs and payments platforms, whereas the government might offer a more holistic approach in the regulation of the digital public infrastructure. 'The government has a much bigger plan on the digital public infrastructure front. It is designing a lot of products such as ONDC, Unified Energy Interface (UEI), and the one thing on their agenda is how to bring interoperability in many of the aspects," NTT Data's Jain said. 'And there is a big incentive for the government because they don't want the economy to move back towards a cash economy, so they want to be involved as much in influencing that policy," he said. The expanded scope of the board is also expected to include a focus on issues such as finding solutions for increasing cases of cyber fraud, customer grievance redressal and on growing homegrown networks such as UPI and the RuPay card network. 'Another growing area of discussion has been CBDCs (central bank digital currencies)," said EY India's Talukdar. 'Given all that is happening, there would definitely be an imperative or greater push for CBDC interoperability across countries, which is a much bigger agenda for the government than the RBI because it directly impacts trade and reliance on the US dollar."
News18
22-05-2025
- Business
- News18
Sent Money To The Wrong UPI ID? Here's How To Get It Back Quickly And Safely
Last Updated: Mistaken UPI transfer? Act fast: contact your bank or NPCI within 3 days to recover funds. Learn how to file complaints and what to do if recovery fails As UPI (Unified Payments Interface) continues to grow in popularity across India, minor mishaps such as sending money to the wrong person are becoming increasingly common. However, there's no need to panic as there are clear steps to help you recover your funds if you act swiftly and correctly. Act Promptly: Time Is Crucial If you've accidentally transferred money to the wrong UPI ID, immediate action is essential. Start by taking a screenshot of the transaction as proof. Next, either call your bank or visit your branch in person and provide full transaction details, including both the sender's and recipient's information. Alternatively, you can contact the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) helpline at 1800-120-1740 and lodge a complaint within three days of the transaction. The sooner you report the issue, the better the chances of recovering your money. NPCI's Dispute Redressal Mechanism NPCI will then investigate and take the necessary steps to help recover your money. Know Your UPI Limits Understanding UPI transaction limits can also help prevent accidental large transfers: (Note: Actual limits may vary slightly by bank.) If NPCI Doesn't Resolve Your Issue If neither your bank nor NPCI resolves the issue within 30 days, you have the right to escalate the matter to the Reserve Bank of India's Banking Ombudsman. The Ombudsman acts as an independent mediator between you and the bank, aiming to resolve complaints within another 30 days. Complaints can be submitted online via the RBI's official website. As digital payments become the norm, it's vital to stay informed about your rights and remedies. By acting promptly and following the correct steps, you can resolve UPI-related mistakes with minimal stress.
Time of India
01-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
UPI transactions to get faster from June 16 as NPCI cuts response time for banks and apps
Representative image Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions are set to become faster and more efficient starting June 16, 2025, as the National Payments Corporation of India ( NPCI ) has mandated a significant reduction in the response time for key UPI-related APIs. This move is aimed at enhancing user experience and ensuring quicker transaction processing across all banks and payment apps in the UPI ecosystem. According to a circular issued by NPCI, the response time for the most commonly used UPI APIs, such as Request Pay, Response Pay (covering debit and credit), and Check Transaction Status, has been reduced from the existing 30 seconds to 15 seconds and 10 seconds, respectively. These changes will be applicable to remitter banks, beneficiary banks, and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) like PhonePe and Paytm. NPCI said, 'The revisions are intended to improve the customer experience ,' and directed all member banks to ensure their systems are updated accordingly. It also emphasised that technical changes must not increase the technical decline (TD) rate beyond acceptable thresholds. These faster turnaround times are expected to benefit users, especially when they face delays or errors while making payments. For example, the time taken to reverse failed transactions or check payment status will now drop from 30 seconds to just 10 seconds. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Click Here - This Might Save You From Losing Money Expertinspector Click Here Undo This means users can get quicker clarity on whether their transaction has succeeded or failed. 'From a customer's standpoint, these changing rules around API rules and timing requirements will mean an incredibly easier and more reliable transaction experience,' Rohit Mahajan, Founder of Plutos ONE, was quoted saying by ET. He added that network or handshake failures, which account for 3–5% of peak-hour UPI transaction issues, would also be resolved faster under the new guidelines. Another key change is the reduced wait time for banks to trigger the first transaction status check. As per NPCI's revised communication, PSPs and acquiring banks can now initiate this check between 45 to 60 seconds after a transaction is initiated, instead of the earlier 90-second window. A maximum of three such checks can be made within two hours of the original transaction. While the new guidelines aim to reduce customer wait times, experts say that backend systems will need to ramp up their readiness. Rahul Jain, CFO of NTT DATA Payment Services India, was quoted by ET saying that India's UPI infrastructure is strong enough to support the reduced response times. However, failure to comply may attract financial penalties from NPCI depending on the severity and recurrence of the delays. The response time reduction will apply across debit and credit transactions, including for address validation (for both pay and collect requests), which will now have a maximum response time of 10 seconds. Stay informed with the latest business news, updates on bank holidays and public holidays . AI Masterclass for Students. Upskill Young Ones Today!– Join Now
