Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Launches Two New Portals to Combat Cyber Crime and Financial Frauds

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, overseeing Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology, unveiled two new portals by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) aimed at combating cybercrime and financial frauds. The first portal, named Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), facilitates real-time intelligence sharing among various stakeholders including law enforcement agencies, financial intermediaries, telecom service providers, and social media companies. Through DIP, when a number is flagged for fraudulent activities, it is instantly shared and blocked across all platforms.

What is Chakshu?

The second portal, called Chakshu, integrated into the Sanchar Saathi platform, enables users to report suspected fraudulent communications received via calls, SMS, or WhatsApp. Upon receiving such reports, users are required to re-verify their numbers. If verification fails, the respective number is disconnected to prevent further misuse.

While inaccessible to citizens, these portals serve as backend repositories for requests initiated on the Sanchar Saathi portal. Additionally, DoT is developing a grievance redressal portal to address wrongful disconnections and coordinate with the Reserve Bank of India and the Department of Financial Services to return frozen funds to citizens.

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The Sanchar Saathi portal, launched in May 2023, offers various services including reporting and blocking lost or stolen mobile phones (CEIR) and identifying connections linked through common KYC (TAFCOP). Since its launch, the portal has facilitated over 10 million disconnections and blocked 1.4 million handsets on user requests, with information on 700,000 traced handsets shared with state governments.

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav emphasized the importance of digital intervention in curbing fraud and crime. He highlighted the Department of Telecommunications Services’ success in preventing citizens from losing approximately ₹1000 crore over the last nine months, with an additional ₹1008 crore frozen in bank accounts linked to fraudulent transactions.

Union Minister Vainshnav explained Chakshu’s potential

Explaining Chakshu, Vaishnav outlined its utility in reporting fraudulent communications, including numbers and phishing messages. He emphasized the potential of Chakshu and the digital intelligence platform in improving the detection and prevention of cyber fraud.

Regarding the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP), Vaishnav mentioned its role in efficiently reporting fraud incidents and facilitating coordination among law enforcement agencies, banks, and financial institutions.

The introduction of Chakshu and DIP underscores the government’s commitment to safeguarding mobile users and combating cyber threats effectively.”