Banks and UPI apps have come up with a great idea to prevent fraud, they will find out the owner of the mobile number from telecom operators..

In view of the rise in cases of cyber fraud and identity theft in the country, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has proposed a new Mobile Number Validation (MNV) platform. According to a report by ET Telecom, this platform will allow banks and fintech companies to verify the ownership of mobile numbers directly with telecom operators. The initiative aims to prevent the use of mobile numbers in fraudulent or “mule” accounts, which are used to withdraw money after cyber fraud.

Parliamentary Standing Committee Support
The initiative has also received the support of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. Apart from this platform, the committee wants technologies like AI-powered facial recognition to be used for telecom SIM subscriber verification to prevent identity fraud while issuing SIMs.

Amendment to Telecom Cyber Security Rules
Currently, there is no system that can ensure that the mobile number linked to a bank account actually belongs to the account holder. This new system will allow banks and fintech operators to verify the ownership of phone numbers directly with telecom providers. To make this possible, the DoT has also proposed amendments to the telecom cybersecurity rules.

Privacy activists unhappy
However, privacy activists are not happy with the move. They believe that these rules are excessive and may put users' privacy at risk. Despite this, the parliamentary committee has urged the implementation the system as soon as possible with privacy safeguards to prevent fraud.

Impact on innocent users
Once implemented, this system may affect innocent users who have registered SIM cards in the name of parents, siblings, or any other person with their bank accounts. Such users may face problems, but we will get more clarity only after the system is implemented.

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