RBI – Reserve Bank of India – is constantly adopting new measures to prevent frauds and scams. As part of these efforts, RBI has recently proposed to impose a delay of one hour on large digital transactions to prevent online fraud. However, many banks have expressed their concerns over this proposal.
**What do the banks say?**
Many banks claim that the limit of ₹10,000 set by RBI is too low. He believes that this limit should be increased to at least ₹25,000. According to bank officials, imposing a one-hour delay on transactions above ₹10,000 could adversely impact the speed and functionality of UPI and other online payment systems. A senior official of a public sector bank said emergency payments and tax-related transactions should be exempted from this rule. Additionally, implementing features such as “kill switches” may prove challenging for smaller banks or banks with limited technical capabilities.
**What was the proposal of RBI?**
It is noteworthy that RBI had released a discussion paper last month, which outlined strategies to deal with cyber fraud. Four main recommendations were offered in this paper:
* One hour delay on large online transactions.
* Additional security checks for high value transactions.
* Limiting large-value transfers to trusted accounts only.
* Giving customers more control over their large digital transactions.
Following the RBI announcement, payments industry players argued that the proposed rule – which requires separate verification for accounts receiving funds of more than ₹25 lakh – is not practical. They claim that fraudsters can circumvent this rule by using multiple small accounts. Cases of digital fraud are continuously increasing in India. In 2025, approximately 2.8 million cases of digital fraud were reported, up from 2.4 million cases in 2024. Also, the total monetary value involved in these fraudulent activities has increased to approximately ₹22,931 crore.
