NEW DELHI – In a major move to secure India’s financial ecosystem, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The partnership focuses on sharing real-time intelligence to detect and disrupt securities market scams and investment frauds.
Strategic Data Sharing Mechanisms
The collaboration integrates telecom intelligence with financial regulation through several key tools:
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Financial Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI): DoT will share the FRI with SEBI to identify mobile numbers showing suspicious patterns, acting as an early warning system.
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Mobile Number Revocation List (MNRL): This list will be automatically shared with SEBI-regulated entities (brokers, AMCs) to ensure investor accounts are linked only to active, verified mobile connections.
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Reciprocal Intelligence: SEBI will provide data on telecom resources linked to money mule activities and cyber fraud, allowing DoT to take swift action within the telecom domain.
Proactive Investor Protection
The exchange will be facilitated via DoT’s Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), which already connects over 1,400 stakeholders. By utilizing inputs from the Chakshu facility under Sanchar Saathi, the framework shifts from reactive enforcement to proactive prevention.
Impact at a Glance:
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Proven Results: DoT’s FRI deployment has already prevented financial losses of approx. ₹2,300 crore in the last ten months.
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Enforcement: Over 88 lakh fraudulent connections have been disconnected to date using ASTR technology.
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Future Scope: The MoU will lead to standard operating procedures (SOPs) for coordinated institutional action against evolving cyber threats.
This partnership is a critical step in building a “trusted” digital environment, ensuring that India’s expanding retail investment landscape remains resilient against sophisticated fraudulent activities.
