[Editor’s note: This article was updated on October 9, 2025, to correct an attribution. A reference to a “senior Walmart group official” presenting the initiative has been replaced with “PhonePe co-founder Rahul Chari” following clarification from PhonePe.]
Leading digital payment platforms PhonePe and Paytm, in collaboration with India’s Department of Telecom (DoT), have successfully prevented potential financial fraud losses of approximately Rs 2 billion through the implementation of the Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) platform. The achievement advances India’s broader initiatives to strengthen digital payment security, including the recent implementation of biometric authentication for UPI payments.
The FRI platform, developed by the DoT, functions by cross-checking mobile numbers against national cybercrime data to identify and block suspicious transactions and accounts. The systematic approach has resulted in the freezing of over 1 million accounts and the blocking of more than 4.8 million suspicious transactions. The system complements the Mobile Number Validation (MNV) system launched earlier this year, which enables direct verification of mobile number ownership by financial institutions.
Breaking down the prevention metrics, PhonePe contributed to avoiding approximately Rs 1.25 billion in potential fraud, while Paytm prevented around Rs 680 million in losses. The figures demonstrate the platform’s effectiveness in strengthening India’s digital payment security infrastructure, particularly significant given the rapid growth of UPI transactions nationwide.
“These apps have frozen over 1 million accounts and stopped more than 4.8 million suspicious transactions in their tracks,” said PhonePe co-founder Rahul Chari. He advocated for expanding the platform’s reach by integrating all governmental and private entities that use mobile numbers for financial identity verification.
The initiative’s success was presented at the India Mobile Congress 2025, where PhonePe co-founder Rahul Chari highlighted the government’s commitment to strengthening digital security measures in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The development follows the DoT’s recent success in deactivating nearly 4 million fraudulent SIM cards through its AI-powered detection system.
Future developments include plans to extend the FRI platform beyond banking and payment sectors to encompass additional services that rely on mobile numbers for identity verification. The expansion aims to create a more comprehensive fraud detection system across India’s digital ecosystem, complementing existing security measures like biometric payment authentication and customizable UPI IDs.
The collaboration represents a significant public-private partnership in cybersecurity, demonstrating how coordination between government agencies and private payment platforms can effectively combat digital financial fraud. The initiative is part of India’s broader digital security strategy, which has already shown success in reducing spoofing calls by 97 percent and blocking millions of fraudulent phone connections.
Sources: Devdiscourse, NewsBytes, Rediff, PTI News, Economic Times BFSI
