RBI to set up fraud registry to check banking frauds: Executive Director

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is considering setting up a fraud registry to create a database of fraudulent websites and phone numbers with locations as part of its efforts to strengthen customer protection and check digital frauds.

Speaking with reporters, RBI Executive Director Anil Kumar Sharma on Monday said such a database shall help prevent fraudsters from repeating the fraud because such websites or phone numbers will be blacklisted.

"There is no definite timeline for setting up of the fraud registry. At present, we are talking to different stakeholders including different departments like payments and settlement and supervision of the RBI," Sharma said.

Payment system participants will be provided access to this registry for near-real-time fraud monitoring. The aggregated fraud data will be published to educate customers on emerging risks.

Sharma also said the time taken by the banking Ombudsman offices for disposal of complaints (turnaround time) regarding banking frauds faced by customers has declined significantly from 95 days in FY20 to 38 days at present, after the launch of the integrated banking ombudsman scheme by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in November 2021.

The scheme was launched for resolving customer grievances in relation to services provided by entities regulated by RBI in an expeditious and cost-effective manner.

“The fall in TAT (Turn Around Time) is because of the number of process efficiencies, such as centralisation, delegation, integration and simplification, that we have introduced as part of Reserve Bank- Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS),” said Anil Kumar Sharma, Executive Director, Reserve Bank of India. The TAT is expected to fall further in future, he added.

The number of complaints received under the banking ombudsman scheme has witnessed a gradual growth of 15.7  per cent in 2020-21 and 9.39 per cent in 2021-22. However, the rate of disposal of complaints filed at ombudsman offices has grown from 92.52% in FY20 to 97.57% in FY22.

Sharma said the ombudsman portal has the facility of immediate registration, generation of acknowledgment with a complaint number, tracking of the status of the complaint and less delay. He said more than 70 per cent of the complaints which came to OBO (Office of Banking Ombudsman) were settled through conciliation wherein the customer and the bank enter into a mutual agreement for settlement.